West Brom expecting Kieran Gibbs and Grzegorz Krychowiak to return for Chelsea game
Albion are expecting to welcome Kieran Gibbs and Grzegorz Krychowiak back for their match against Chelsea – but skipper Jonny Evans could be out for longer after twinging a nerve in his back.
The Baggies have been wracked with injuries in recent weeks after several players picked up problems during the FA Cup win at Anfield and Krychowiak was stamped on by Fernandinho at Manchester City.
Krychowiak, Gibbs, Evans, Jake Livermore and Hal Robson-Kanu have all joined Nacer Chadli and James Morrison on the sidelines.
And the injuries took their toll on Saturday, when Albion lost 3-2 to relegation rivals Southampton in a damaging defeat that leaves them four points adrift at the bottom of the table.
But Pardew is expecting two of his first XI to be able to play against Chelsea and is hoping his captain will be available when Southampton return to The Hawthorns in a fortnight for an FA Cup fifth round clash.
“I think Gibbs and Grzegorz will be available (against Chelsea)," he said. "Jonny has a bit of a nerve thing in his back so that’s a little bit, I can’t say for sure.
“I don’t think he'll be out for a while but he’ll be out for Chelsea and maybe back after that. The other two I’m pretty confident to be sure.”
Livermore and Robson-Kanu may also be in the running for next Monday's match at Stamford Bridge, but Morrison and Chadli are likely to return in March.
Pardew is also hoping new loanee Daniel Sturridge benefits from valuable minutes at the weekend.
The Liverpool striker started ahead of in-form Jay Rodriguez and showed promising signs during his hour on the pitch.
"It’s about sharpness, of course," said Pardew. "He showed a few flashes I thought and a little bit of quality that we know he has, but we need to get game time into him.
"We haven’t got long and if I had everyone available he might not have started but we decided to go with him and he got 60 minutes under his belt, which will do him no end of good.”
A few fans greeted the full-time whistle with boos, but Pardew understood why.
“Our fans are frustrated," he said. "It was a day to celebrate Cyrille (Regis’s) life and we didn’t give them the result that they wanted. They’re upset, I understand that, but we’re upset too.”
