Gera absence forces Hodgson re-think

West Brom boss Roy Hodgson has to fill the gap left by long-term injury-victim Zoltan Gera for Saturday’s Barclays Premier League clash with QPR at Loftus Road.

The midfielder will be sidelined for the rest of the season with a ruptured anterior ligament suffered against Tottenham last weekend. Simon Cox replaced Gera in a 4-4-1-1 formation.

Hodgson is hoping four-goal leading scorer Shane Long can shake off a groin injury which led to him being substituted after 70 minutes against Spurs. Peter Odemwingie is on stand-by to replace him.

Provisional squad: Foster, Fulop, Reid, Jones, Jara, Olsson, McAuley, Dawson, Tamas, Mattock, Shorey, Scharner, Brunt, Morrison, Mulumbu, Dorrans, Thomas, Tchoyi, Cox, Odemwingie, Long.