Joao Pedro will face a race back to England - as Albion weigh up striker options to face Nottingham Forest.

The Albion forward is on standby for a first start for Brazil as they prepare to face Argentina in a World Cup qualifier at the Maracana.

Gabriel Jesus is expected to come into the side in place of injured Vinicius Junior, with Joao Pedro on the bench.

But the Arsenal man himself missed last week’s defeat in Colombia, when Joao Pedro went on as an early sub for Vinicius but failed to shine.

Head coach Fernando Diniz has used Joao Pedro as his frontman in training sessions while awaiting confirmation Gabriel Jesus will be ready to go.

The match in Rio will finish at about 2.30am on Wednesday, our time.

Roberto De Zerbi’s attacking options should also include Evan Ferguson, barring any issues when Republic of Ireland play New Zealand this evening.

Republic boss Stephen Kenny was reported to be optimistic Ferguson would be available for involvement in the Dublin friendly.

The Albion boss started without a recognised specialist centre-forward against Sheffield United and saw his side create some good chances around the movement of Ansu Fati so could employ that system for at least some of the Forest game.

Facundo Buonanotte, who scored at the City Ground last season, is currently in Japan with Argentina under-23s.

He played an hour in the first of two friendlies with Japan, coming off with his side 2-1 up and then seeing them lose 5-2.