Mowbray: Limited options

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Teams

• Crystal Palace
• West Bromwich Albion

Players

• Craig Beattie
• Ishmael Miller

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West Brom boss Tony Mowbray admits the long-term injury to Ishmael Miller has left him short on attacking options.

The burly striker is set to be sidelined for the remainder of the season after suffering cruciate ligament damage during the Baggies' 1-1 draw with Portsmouth on Sunday.

An initial diagnosis had suggested the former Manchester City man would be out for up to six weeks but further examinations have shown the problem to be worse than first anticipated.

The news comes as a major blow to Mowbray, who is now left with Roman Bednar and Luke Moore as his only available senior forwards.

As a result, the Baggies manager concedes that he may be forced to delve into the transfer market once the window opens in January.

Parameters

"It is a bad injury. We wish Ishmael a speedy recovery. We needed him really. He has been our main source of threat to the opposition," said Mowbray.

"I thought he was doing exceptionally well again on Sunday, asking questions of them. It is a shame for him and for us.

"As for the transfer window, we are looking. We will wait and see. The bottom line is, if there aren't the funds there to do anything, it doesn't change because you get an injury.

"We've got to work within the parameters we've got. We will try and bring one or two in on loan and try and increase the competition if we can.

"The problem is invariably top Premier League strikers don't go out on loan. We are scanning Europe to see if we can find someone.

"Hopefully, one of the top teams may find themselves with some excess players who need a bit of game time.

"Young players at big clubs who haven't played much football is another avenue for us. We are looking at all areas. Let's wait and see what happens."

Recall

Mowbray does have the option of recalling Craig Beattie from a loan spell at Championship side Crystal Palace and the Eagles' boss Neil Warnock admits that he may be forced to part with the Scotland international.

"I think they (West Brom) are going to be looking at January really," he said.

"They will be looking at the transfer window and signing one or two players.

"They have been pretty good to me, as has Tony, but it is his prerogative."