Boss Chris Hughton feels at ease with Albion’s central midfield options at Ipswich tonight, in spite of the absence of Beram Kayal.

The Israeli, involved in 51 of the last 55 Championship fixtures, is sidelined by the ankle injury he sustained in Saturday’s 2-0 home win against Barnsley.

Summer signings Steve Sidwell or Ollie Norwood will fill in for Kayal, who according to a source in Israel has already been ruled out of his country's forthcoming World Cup qualifiers and will therefore miss Saturday's trip to Sheffield Wednesday as well.

Hughton told The Argus: “One reason why we acquired Sidwell and Norwood this season is because we wanted competition in that position.

“It’s been tough for Rohan Ince. We were hoping to get him out on loan in the summer and it didn’t materialise but we wanted strong options in there.

“Dale and Beram both played a lot of games last season and there is no guarantee that they can play the same amount of games. Also, you want to be able to push them.

“Now we have got four good, experienced players vying for a position and if we have injuries in there you feel more comfortable with what we’ve got.”

Seb Pocognoli is expected to deputise at left-back for the suspended Gaetan Bong as Albion try to build on the Barnsley result, which followed a narrow victory in the last away outing at Burton.

They have another away game at Sheffield Wednesday on Saturday before the international break and Hughton said: “I want to keep it going.

“Saturday was a big result for us, because it was a home game and we knew then we have two very tough away games. Cushion is not the right word but you feel as if you have got to get those home results.

“On the road we lost at Newcastle but we were good at Derby, at Reading perhaps not so good. We certainly want to get results away from home.”