West Brom academy graduate sidelined for a Hawthorns return with QPR

Field, 26, injured his ankle against Portsmouth at the end of last month and could miss the final two months of the Championship campaign with the setback.

The Rs estimate influential ever-present Field will miss between six and nine weeks which means the Stourbridge-born midfielder is battling to play again this season for Marti Cifuentes' side.

He missed out of last week's spirited 2-1 home defeat against promotion-hunting Sheffield United.

Field's absence is a sore blow for Saturday's mid-table visitors as they try to hang on to the coat-tails of several sides chasing the play-offs in a packed Championship middle order.

Cifuentes' side are 14th, well below Tony Mowbray's sixth-placed hosts, but only trail the Baggies by eight points and could cut that to five this weekend.

Black Country-born Field played 45 senior games for his boyhood club before he left to join the West London club on a free transfer. He has become a model of consistency for QPR and was rewarded with a new long-term deal 12 months ago.

Field has already clocked up in excess of 150 appearances for the Hoops with his availability and consistency praised in the capital. He barely missed a minute this season.

Experienced campaigner Jack Colback, 35, is among those tasked with filling in for Field in QPR's midfield.

Former Sunderland, Newcastle and Nottingham Forest man Colback made just his fifth Championship start of the season against the Blades last weekend. He is out of contract at Loftus Road at the end of the season.

It has been a season of downs and then ups for Cifuentes and Co. in West London.

With defeat to a Josh Maja-inspired Albion on the opening day - Maja bagged a hat-trick - the Rs found themselves bottom of the reckoning for months and only picked up a first league win in late November.

Highly-rated Spaniard Cifuentes turned it around, though, as his side went unbeaten in seven with just one defeat in 11 to climb the table and as it stands remain on the fringes of the play-off push.

Form since the new year has brought exactly six wins and six defeats in all competitions, which highlights a struggle for consistency.

Algerian academy graduate forward Rayan Kolli is missing through injury. Striker Zan Celar and defender Jake Clarke-Salter are long-term absentees. Talented youngster Harvey Vale, who snapped up from Chelsea in January amid reported Albion interested, is out with a back issue.

The Rs added highly-rated loan pair Ronnie Edwards, from Southampton, and Tottenham attacker Yang Min-Hyeok to their ranks in January.