Baggies duo doubtful for Villa clash

Dangerous game, football

Baggies duo doubtful for Villa clash - Yahoo! Eurosport

Here we go again.

West Brom's leading scorer Peter Odemwingie and key midfielder Chris Brunt are battling to be fit for Saturday's away derby clash with struggling Aston Villa...

But the Nigeria international - on target six times this season - has been unable to train this week with a groin problem suffered during the game.

Brunt, who has been the subject of speculation linking him with a move to Liverpool, has also had a groin injury in recent weeks and has also been unable to play a full part in training.

Boss Roberto Di Matteo confirmed: "We have some problems. Odemwingie hasn't trained this week yet. He has got a groin problem. If he manages to train [on Friday], we have a chance. We have to wait and see how he is going to be.

"Chris Brunt had to miss some training sessions so we just have to manage him and Peter and hope they will be available for Saturday."

It seems like this is going to be the "news" every week for a while. Brunt has had the groin injury since the last international break but has been able to play in the matches. So I'm not worried about him. The Odemwingie injury seems new - as in recent, and different from his last knee injury - and will bear close scrutiny. Somen Tchoyi may be a good bet this weekend if Odemwingie can't make it. Tchoyi may be a good bet regardless, to be honest.