James Morrison's knee injury 'nothing too serious' says West Brom doctor

The midfielder damaged his medial knee ligaments early on in Scotland’s game with England earlier this month but played on until half-time.

Director of Performance Dr Mark Gillett admitted the 31-year-old would probably miss part of pre-season, but he expects Morrison to be fit enough to do some work on Tony Pulis’s annual training camp in Austria at the start of July.

“It's nothing too serious to worry about,” he said. “We fully expect him to do things in Austria and we will manage his pre-season after that. We would expect him to be fit for the start of the season."

Gillett is also confident that Gareth McAuley, Hal Robson-Kanu and Matt Phillips will also be fit for the curtain-raiser against Bournemouth on August 12.

McAuley aggravated a thigh injury on international duty with Northern Ireland, Robson-Kanu pulled out of the Wales squad with a knee injury, and Phillips decided not to meet up with Scotland because of his hamstring problem.

“There may be a requirement for some careful management throughout the pre-season schedule but there is nothing to prevent us thinking all four will be 'good to go' on August 12,” said Gillett.

"I think that is a reasonable target for us and one we should be confident reaching.

"We took a decision with Matty at the end of the season that we would focus on him being fully ready for this pre-season.

"The other issues are not serious and the rest the players are enjoying now will do them the power of good."

Yesterday, McAuley confirmed his injury wouldn't keep him sidelined for long.

“I had a slight niggle in my thigh and I had a slight recurrence with it when I tried to play against Azerbaijan,” said the Northern Irishman. “But it is settling down okay.

"In a couple of weeks I will be able to do some sprint stuff and to get ready for pre-season.

"Hopefully things will have settled down by then and I will back to normal and fit and strong.”