Football Corner

Some news on the injury front at West Brom today considering Chris Kirkland and Zoltan Gera. Gera will undergo an operation immediately after it was revealed he is suffering from Gilmore's groin. Gera has been suffering with the injury for almost a month now and that resulted him in playing in the West Brom first team but it was hoped that he would be fit for the Baggies next game on Saturday against in form Everton. But after breaking down in training on Monday with a recurrence of the injury, he was sent to see a specialist in London. Gera was diagnosed with Gilmore groin, a condition caused by a double-sided groin hernia, and the decision to operate on Tuesday was taken, his management group revealed on the player's personal website.

But good news for Baggies fans is that on loan goal keeper Chris Kirkland is nearing a return to the Hawtorns first team. Kirkland has not played for The Baggies since bruising a kidney in the club's 2-0 loss to Bolton last month. Assistant manager Nigel Pearson is not looking to rush Kirkland back into action as he does not want the former Coventry man to suffer a relapse. "It's going to be another couple of weeks before Chris is back," explained Pearson to the club's official website. "This type of injury can be very dangerous if you ignore it. With a goalkeeper throwing himself around, the risk is even greater. "It is frustrating for Chris and we're disappointed for him because we know how keen he is to make a career for himself as a regular goalkeeper."But it is vitally important he gets this injury sorted out because it is potentially a very serious problem that we have taken a lot of advice on. "He's going to have to be a little bit patient and the only way to stop people talking about his injuries is by having a long run in the team."


Bit of good news and bad news for West Brom. The Gera injury will be a very big blow because Gera is a great player in that side and without him in the midfield they aren't as strong. The Kirkland news is very key to West Brom surviving this season because whenever he has played for The Baggies he has shown that he still has the talent to break into the England team which he is not doing at the moment.