Albion could enter the loan market for a striker after discovering Will Hoskin will be ruled out for the rest of the season.

Hoskins was carried off before half-time in the 1-1 draw with Blackburn Rovers on Tuesday with scans confirming he had suffered knee ligament damage.

The former Watford forward will have surgery to repair the damage and manager Gus Poyet admits he may have to consider bringing in a replacement on loan.

Albion’s striking options are further limited for the trip to Cardiff on Tuesday with Ashley Barnes serving the last of his three-game ban.

Poyet said: “It is really bad luck for Will. He was deserving to play because of the way he was training and it just shows what a crazy game football is. He gets the chance to play and he gets injured.

“It will depend on many things whether we sign anyone. Ashley will be back after the next game and we have Leo (Ulloa), Macca (Craig Mackail-Smith) and Vicente so we’ll see.”