Adam El-Abd could miss the start of next season after suffering an injury set-back.

Albion’s player of the year is spending 90 minutes in an oxygen chamber every day in ha bid to speed up is recovery from a stress fracture in his left foot.

El-Abd is due to come out of a protective boot a week after his club-mates have started pre-season training. Medical staff will then be able to assess how the bone has healed and give a better idea of when he should be back in action.

El-Abd had planned to protect the foot and let the fracture heal without an operation. His recovery has been put back to square one after taking a specialist’s advice to remove the boot and put some weight on the foot to help with blood circulation.

He said: “I was walking through the airport when we were going on holiday when I felt the pain come back. We still went but after two days away the pain was too much so we came home early.

“I had a scan which revealed I had had a set-back and I signed the papers to go under anaesthetic and have the operation. But when the surgeon came in I wasn’t confident about what he was telling me. He couldn’t give me definite answers. I said to (Albion physio) Nathan Ring I didn’t want to go through with it.”

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