ALBION boss Chris Hughton is weighing up the best way to replace Gaetan Bong amid fears of a lengthy lay-off for the left-back.

Bong was stretchered off in the closing stages of the 0-0 draw at home to Preston with a knee injury after crumpling to the ground while running.

If ligament damage is confirmed and Bong is ruled out for some time then Hughton will have to decide whether he needs to delve into the loan market.

He told The Argus: “The options we have in-house would very much be Calde (Inigo Calderon) and Liam Rosenior. Liam has played there on quite a few occasions.

“He (Bong) has been excellent. He’s a very strong individual and we know what his qualities are. Defensively he is very good and he breaks forward very well. The fact he has been an ever-present shows what he has given us. We hope it’s not a bad one, because we will certainly miss him.”

Hughton has other concerns for Saturday’s trip to Reading, when Beram Kayal returns from a one-match ban.

Kayal’s central midfield partner, Dale Stephens, was sidelined against Preston by a thigh problem. Captain Gordon Greer (knee) was ruled out again and Kazenga LuaLua (groin) is unlikely to be ready for the visit to the Madejski Stadium.

Hughton said: “In the game on Tuesday (Bristol City) Dale felt his thigh but got through it fine and ended up having a very good game. We’re hoping it’s minor but it was a big blow, particularly with Beram picking up an unfortunate fifth booking which never was.

“Gordon trained fully on Thursday and then we assessed him and felt he still wasn’t right. Kazenga trained on Thursday, his first day training with the team for four weeks. He’ll certainly need to train a few more days this week to be ready but at the moment the injury is okay.”

Albion remain four points clear at the top of the Championship after extending their unbeaten start to 13 matches.