Injury-jinxed Albion defender Neil Clement still has no date for a comeback from his latest knee injury.

Assistant head coach Eddie Newton today revealed that Clement has exhausted all treatments for the cartilage damage that has kept him sidelined for more than a year.

And the popular former Chelsea man must now focus on strengthening his leg to cope with a knee that has undergone major surgery.

Clement has travelled to Germany to see a top knee specialist and has been given the go-ahead to step up training.

Newton said: “He’s now in a wait-and-see process. He’s training with us and dealing with all the demands we’re asking of him.

“But he’s not only got to develop the knee, he’s got to develop the muscle tone, all the muscle groups and his strength around it, like the calf and everything that protects the knee.

“He’s working very hard both in the gym and on the training pitch. However, every so often we have to give him a rest because he can’t do it every day.

“But, where he was doing three days a week last time, he’s now doing four days a week and he’s building.

“We can’t put a time on it. It wouldn’t be fair to him to put a cut off-point on it. He’s been a great servant to Albion and the club are doing everything possible to help him.

“Everyone’s trying to rally round him and support him. It’s a similar injury to what I had but the medical techniques have progressed a lot more.”

And Newton has special sympathy for his former Chelsea team-mate after being forced into retirement with a similar problem.

“We’re having big conversations about it and I may end up going to see the same specialist as him because I’m still carrying that same injury,” said Newton.