Jose Izquierdo has been hit by the same knee injury he suffered at the World Cup with Colombia.

But manager Chris Hughton has revealed there will be no lasting damage to the Albion winger.

Izquierdo has been sidelined since going off against Crystal Palace at the beginning of the month.

Everton's visit today will be the fifth match in succession he has missed.

It is also doubtful whether he will make the squad for Wednesday's trip to West Ham, where he scored and starred in Albion's 3-0 win last season before hitting the target against them again at the Amex.

Izquierdo ended up with five goals in 32 Premier League appearances in an increasingly influential debut campaign.

The former Brugge wide man went to the World Cup in Russia with Colombia (below) but made only one appearance as they were knocked out in the last 16 by England.

The Argus: He was given extra-time off and returned for pre-season with a knee injury, which kept him out until the end of September.

Now Hughton has revealed to The Argus: "It's the same injury, but he is in a decent place at the moment which is good.

"All we've got to make sure to do is the process. We are mindful of not pushing him too quickly.

"What we want to do is make sure we get him right so that when he is back playing he can have a longer period of being fit."

Izquierdo's injury has been part of a double wide blow for Albion.

Record signing Alireza Jahanbakhsh sustained hamstring damage in the 3-1 defeat at Everton at the start of last month.

He has not featured since and is now with Iran for the Asian Cup in the United Arab Emirates.

That has left Hughton with only Solly March and Anthony Knockaert as orthodox wingers but the emergence of Jurgen Locadia (below) has softened the blow.

The Argus: The versatile Dutchman started on the left at Bournemouth last Saturday and equalised in the Boxing Day draw at home to Arsenal.

Locadia, handed his full debut at Everton in March, will start three Premier League matches in succession for the first time today.

Hughton said: "One thing with Jurgen is he gives us a fair bit of scope in the way that he plays. We've probably used 4-3-3 more often, certainly of late, than we have done in the past.

"Jurgen's one that is very much used to playing in that system when he was at PSV (Eindhoven). He gives us a bit of flexibility of either being able to play on either flank or down the middle.

"We've always felt he was an important part of the squad and the team. At times it works in your favour. Glenn's (Murray) form has been very good, (Florin) Andone pushing, it's made it more difficult for him, but we've always felt he's very important to the squad."

Meanwhile, Israeli midfielder Beram Kayal has escaped a suspension.

Kayal has been stuck on four bookings, one away from a ban, since late October. The cut-off point was the halfway game against Arsenal.

Kayal has not started a match since conceding a penalty in the home draw against Leicester's ten men in November.