Bilic’s Hegazi update could impact promotion push
West Bromwich Albion manager Slaven Bilic has confirmed that Ahmed Hegazi’s injury is not as bad as first feared and that could be a big boost for the club’s promotion hopes as they look to stay ahead of Leeds, Fulham and the rest of the chasing pack.
Hegazi was replaced at half-time during last weekend’s Championship defeat to Wigan Athletic but Bilic has calmed concerns about the severity of the issue.
Speaking ahead of his side’s clash with Swansea City, the manager said:
Hegazi did his scan, it’s not bad. He should be back in a minimum of two weeks.
It’s not cramp, but it’s a very little one. It’s a big boost for us because he came back in the team but hopefully, it should be only a couple of weeks.
The fact that he is only set to miss two weeks is great news for the Baggies because the Egyptian was beginning to show his class at the back.
In the two matches before the game against the Latics, Hegazi played the entire 90 minutes and helped the team to successive clean sheets, against Bristol City and Preston North End respectively (Transfermarkt), which goes some way towards highlighting his towering presence at the back.
Therefore, we believe that the sooner he is back, the better it is for the team.
As the statistics show, the team have only lost four of the ten league matches in which he has featured, with one being last weekend’s game against Wigan where he was powerless to prevent the defeat after going off injured.
The loss to Wigan, coupled with Hegazi’s injury, may have given Leeds, Fulham and co. a bit of a boost, but if the defender is back within two weeks, that will be a great relief to Albion, as they look to stay in first place in the table.