Slaven Bilic has revealed that Kieran Gibbs is likely to miss the most of January after picking up a hamstring injury against Swansea City that has failed to improve.
Speaking to The Birmingham Mail, the West Brom manager admitted that the 30-year-old defender will be out until February after picking up a knock against Swansea in early January, and although Gibbs has managed to play football since then with the ex-Arsenal fullback starting against Barnsley as well as Leeds United, the Baggies star has seemingly aggravated his injury.
Gibbs was subbed off after just 15 minutes against Leeds on New Year’s Day, and the results of a scan have shown that the left-back will be out on the injury table for most of the month, adding more problems to Bilic’s fullback situation with Nathan Ferguson also injured.
Do West Brom need to spend in January?
Yes, the squad needs that extra something
No, we're sorted for now
Bilic said when asked about if Gibbs will be out this week due to injury: “Yeah, he’s going to be out for, I don’t know, four or five weeks. It’s quite a long time. It’s his hamstring, the one he did against Swansea.”
The injury has added more pressure to the Croatian boss, who is now only left with two natural fullbacks in the form of Darnell Furlong and Conor Townsend, yet with the January transfer window open, this month could see Bilic make a signing in this area of the pitch.
Yet it appears that Bilic is improvising with what he currently has, with Jack Fitzwater operating as a left-back in West Brom’s FA Cup clash against Charlton Athletic on Sunday in a 1-0 win for the Baggies.
With Gibbs only out for this month, the former West Ham manager could roll the dice on using players out of position with Fitzwater playing well against the Addicks on the weekend, allowing Bilic to focus on other areas of the pitch this transfer window.
