Former Arsenal defender Kieran Gibbs is set to return to West Brom's starting eleven for their FA Cup clash with Newcastle United.
The 30-year-old has not featured to the Baggies' since their New Year's Day draw with Leeds United, and recent poor weather has prevented the full-back picking up valuable minutes with the under-23s.
However, speaking at this pre-match press conference on Monday, Baggies' boss Slaven Bilic confirmed Gibbs is "ready" to return and will start against the Magpies on Tuesday night.
Bilic told Birmingham Live: “Kieran has been training with us for more than a couple of weeks now. He looks good, he looks fresh.
“With Kieran, because he had not one injury but three of them in this season, we wanted him to have one or two games for under 23s, because one thing is to train but another thing is to play.
“He got injured in a game. We wanted him to get rid of it through games for under 23s, but because of the weather we couldn’t have that. He played 45 minutes.
“But based on training he’s ready. Based on training he looks sharp, he looks good. Sharp legs, everything. Skill was never a question mark.
“He has a top left foot. He’s there and he’s going to start tomorrow.”
The Championship leaders suffered a surprise defeat to Wigan at the Hawthorns on Saturday, and also saw central defender Ahmed Hegazi forced off injured.
Bilic confirmed the Baggies are still waiting for results on the Egyptian international, and that the FA Cup tie also comes too soon for Grandy Diangana.
The West Brom boss added: "Unfortunately it wasn’t cramp. I spoke to him and the medical department, and they don’t think it’s something major.
“We’re waiting, but hopefully he [Hegazi] will be back soon, let’s say. Maybe a couple of weeks’ time.
“It’s his hamstring. It’s a shame because he played really good since he came back into the team. It’s a blow for us.
"Apart from that we have Grady Diangana who is very close to being back in full training with the team on the pitch.
“The two of them are not available. Grady has been out for a couple of months now, it will be great when he comes back because he is one of those players that can make a difference and decide games.
“I’m happy that he’s quite close to being back.”
