West Bromwich Albion may have been dealt a major injury blow ahead of their upcoming Championship clash.

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In recent comments cited by Birmingham Live, Dara O'Shea revealed that he has been ruled out of the Republic of Ireland's next two fixtures against Azerbaijan and Serbia respectively, as a result of an injury the 22-year-old picked up in his country's recent 2-1 defeat against Portugal.

The West Brom centre-back said: "Devastated to be ruled out of the two home games. So proud of the lads. I will be back stronger."

The report goes on to state that, as the extent of the defender's injury has not yet been revealed, Albion will be sweating on the results of O'Shea's scan - the results of which look set to become clear in the coming days.

Ismael will be fuming

With on-loan Brighton & Hove Albion centre-back Matt Clarke also having been ruled out of action for up to six weeks due to a hamstring injury, the fact that O'Shea could also be set to spend a spell on the sidelines as a result of an injury picked up while on international duty is sure to have left Valerien Ismael fuming.

Indeed, not only would the 22-year-old's absence leave the Frenchman short of options in the heart of his defence for the visit of Millwall on September 11th, the 45-year-old manager would also be losing one of his most impressive performers so far this season.

Over his five Championship appearances for Albion this term, the £2.7m-rated man has helped his side keep two clean sheets, as well as making an average of 2.2 interceptions, 2.4 tackles, 3.6 clearances and winning a whopping 10.2 duels per game.

The defender has also chipped in for his side in an attacking capacity, scoring two goals, in addition to taking an average of 1.2 shots and making 0.2 key passes per league fixture.

These returns have seen the man Dan Watts dubbed a "fantastic" talent earn an average SofaScore match rating of 7.26, ranking him as Ismael's third-best performer in the second tier so far this term.

As such, it is clear for all to see that the potential absence of the centre-back will cause the Baggies boss with a considerable selection headache for the club's upcoming games, with the Frenchman undoubtedly hoping that O'Shea's injury is not an overly serious one.

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