West Bromwich Albion have been dealt with an international break blow as influential defender Dara O'Shea has been struck down with an injury, the club have confirmed.

The 22-year-old has been an ever-present in the Championship so far for the Baggies this season and has been on the scoresheet against AFC Bournemouth and Sheffield United.

O'Shea featured in Ireland's 2-1 defeat to Portugal this week and was involved in an incident which saw legendary forward Cristiano Ronaldo appear to strike him before he stepped up to take a penalty.

It appears though that O'Shea's start to the domestic season, coupled with his international exploits, have been a bit too much to handle as he has had to withdraw from the rest of Ireland's matches this week through injury after being brought off in the first half of the match against Portugal.

That is a blow that Valerien Ismael did not need with fellow centre-back Matt Clarke already on the sidelines for a number of weeks after picking up a hamstring issue.

West Brom forward Callum Robinson has been called up to the Ireland squad in O'Shea's place and Baggies supporters have their fingers crossed that the same fate doesn't occur to their talisman.

The Verdict

Considering the start to the season he's had, O'Shea would be a huge miss for the Baggies if he ended up on the sidelines for an extended period.

The nature of his injury is not yet known but fans will be sweating and hoping that it is simply just a precautionary measure taken by Ireland.

It would be a blow to lose both O'Shea and Clarke within weeks of each other and even though Ismael has adequate cover to select, the two injury-stricken defenders are both classy operators in the Championship.

With the games coming thick and fast following the international break, there will be much hope that O'Shea is fit to return for the clash with Millwall on September 11 but judging by the fact he can't compete in Ireland's next two games there may be a bigger issue.