West Ham picked up their first point on their travels this season but it came at a price as they look set to be without James Collins for the foreseeable future, Ken Dyer of the London Evening Standard notes.
The robust centre-back went down late in the first half with an ankle injury and played out the half after receiving some treatment. Collins returned after the break but it was clear that he couldn’t see out the full 90.
Collins had formed a back three which kept a clean sheet in their first win of the season last Monday against Huddersfield as Slaven Bilic appears to have found a formula which grinds out results after the Hammers lost their first three Premier League games to start the season.
Bilic shuffled the pack at West Brom on Saturday after Collins left the field of play, with Pablo Zabaleta moving inside from right wing-back to centre-back and Michail Antonio dropping into a deeper role.
The Wales international is set for a scan on his ankle today to assess potential ligament damage but the fear is he will miss at least a month of action, ruling him out of this week’s Carabao Cup clash with Bolton, as well as the visit of Tottenham this weekend and the trip to Swansea seven days later.
West Ham seemingly want to continue with the back three formation and it remains to be seen if Angelo Ogbonna will be a straight replacement for Collins on the left-side of the defence or if Zabaleta will once again move inside.
