West Brom manager Valerien Ismael has revealed that Alex Mowatt is set to undergo a scan to determine the extent of the injury that forced him off the field in their defeat at Stoke City.

The Baggies endured a difficult evening at Stoke on Friday night with their unbeaten start in the Championship coming to an end with a 1-0 defeat.

There was further bad news for West Brom when Mowatt was forced to leave the field in the 80^th minute of the game after he suffered a foot injury.

Jayson Molumby came off the bench for the midfielder but he could not help the Baggies take anything from the game.

Mowatt has started all 11 of West Brom’s opening Championship fixtures and he has been a crucial member of the side as you would have expected under Ismael.

The 26-year-old has scored three goals already this term and his potential absence from the side would be a blow for Ismael.

Speaking to the Express and Star, Ismael suggested that he is concerned with Mowatt’s injury because he is not the sort of player that would come off the field if it was not a serious issue.

He revealed that the midfielder will go for a scan over the international break to see how bad the foot injury is.

He said: “It’s his left foot and he needs to go and have a scan. I hope it isn’t too bad.

“When Alex comes out, it’s normally a bad sign because he can play all the time, he wants to play all the time – 90 minutes plus.”

The verdict

Losing Mowatt for a prolonged period would be a huge issue for West Brom considering they are short of options in the middle of the park.

Molumby would obviously get the chance to have a run in the side in Mowatt’s absence, but West Brom would not have much cover left on the bench in case anything happened to either him or Jake Livermore over the coming weeks.

Mowatt has been crucial to the way that West Brom set up so far this season and Ismael would have been wanting him to play a key role in all of the Baggies’ matches this term if possible.

However, it seems now that Ismael is going to have to work on a solution without Mowatt over the next few weeks. He will at least have time to assess the best way to replace the qualities that he brings to the side.

West Brom just need to hope that Mowatt’s injury is not going to lead to a  lengthy absence because that would provide a massive headache for the Baggies at this stage.