Brown Ideye facing fitness race ahead of QPR clash

Albion striker Brown Ideye has revealed he faces a race to be fit for the Baggies' crucial clash with QPR at The Hawthorns on April 4.

The Baggies' record signing is unsure whether he will be ready to face Rangers after missing Saturday's 3-0 defeat at Manchester City with a knee injury.

Ideye was also forced to abandon his Nigeria comeback after earning a recall for his country's games against Uganda and South Africa.

Now he is focusing on recovering to face Chris Ramsey's Rangers in the first of Albion's back-to-back home games against the Premier League's bottom two.

He said: "I am in rehab now so hopefully I will be better before the QPR game game.

"I just have to work with the doctors and the physios and hopefully things will get better in time.

"Somebody kicked me from behind in the Stoke game and since then I've been getting pain.

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"I spoke with the gaffer and said I didn't think I could play so I just have to rest it and get good treatment.

"I thought I could be fit for Nigeria. I thought I could even be fit for the game at Manchester City but the game was still there and I couldn't run so I just had to stay back instead of risking it by going to internationals and coming back.

"I just have to rest. The pain is still there but with the doctors and physios we have doing their best the should make sure I'm fit for the game."

And Ideye revealed his disappointment at missing out on an international return after two years on the sidelines.

The 26-year-old said: "Every player wants to play for his country and since 2013 I haven't had a great impact for my country so I feel bad about pulling out.

"But there are many more games ahead so I have to move forward now and forget about that.

"We won the African Cup of Nations and that is the last time that I wore the national colours."

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