It has been a tough few weeks in the Sky Bet Championship for West Bromwich Albion, whose bid for automatic promotion has been somewhat halted after a series of disappointing results.

The Baggies have won only one of their previous eight league matches, and fell to only their second home defeat of the season against Stoke City by a goal to nil on Monday night.

Whilst Slaven Bilic's side have struggled in recent weeks, others have capitalised. Fulham, Brentford and Nottingham Forest have all started to pick up and apply the pressure on the top two - Fulham and Forest could move within one and two points respectively, should their results go the right way this evening.

Not only has the gap between Albion and third place been cut to just five points - two if Forest win tonight - but they may be without star-man Grady Diangana for the next few games, too.

The winger returned to the Baggies' starting line-up in the 2-2 draw at Charlton less than a fortnight ago, but was taken off after only four minutes against Stoke on Monday night.

After the game, Slaven Bilic confirmed that it was a reoccurring hamstring problem for Diangana - the same injury that kept him out of action for four league matches last month.

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In light of this recent injury blow, we take a look at how Albion have coped when Diangana has been missing this term...

West Brom have played a total of 30 games in all competitions this season - 28 matches in the Championship, one Carabao Cup fixture (Millwall) and one FA Cup fixture (Charlton).

Diangana has played in 22 of those games, with 21 appearances coming in the Championship - 17 of those being starting appearances - and his debut which came against Millwall in the League Cup.

The most significant thing that Diangana has contributed to West Brom this year is goals. The playmaker has scored five times, and produced a further six assists for the Baggies in all competitions.

The stats also show that, with Diangana on the pitch, the Baggies score more goals. With Diangana on the pitch, they manage to find the net an average of two times of a game - when he's not playing, they score an average of one goal per game.

That suggests, then, that with Diangana, they create more chances and are more fluid in their play. Matt Phillips, Matheus Pereira and Diangana form an excellent midfield three in front of Jake Livermore and Romaine Sawyers, with Pereira and Diangana often trading places.

Albion, on average, have 3.4% more of the ball when Diangana has been on the pitch, perhaps hinting that they retain the ball a lot better when the 21-year-old is featuring.

Whilst they tend to make slightly less passes per game, Diangana's decision-making when on the ball helps the Baggies be as dangerous as they are going forward and entering the final third.

They have accrued a pass accuracy rate of 80.2% when he's played, compared to when he's been off it (78.1%). They also work the ball into the right areas, too, having nearly a shot on target more per game.

Of course, it would be unfair to say that that is all down to just Diangana being on the pitch - the Baggies have an ilk of talented players at the club, and without them, Diangana  simply wouldn't be as effective.

Also, West Brom have played against 10 men on two occasions this season, which will obviously make it slightly easier to pass to a teammate successfully, and perhaps dominate the game slightly more.

But there is no denying that Albion lack that creative spark when Diangana is missing, and if he is to endure another lengthy spell on the sidelines, it could be detrimental.

With their promotion rivals picking up steam and the front pack's momentum fizzling out, it certainly makes for an interesting end to the season.