West Bromwich Albion’s hopes have been dashed as manager Carlos Corberan confirmed that Nigerian striker Josh Maja will be sidelined for the next four months. This setback comes just as Maja had made a return to the pitch after an earlier ankle injury suffered this season.

Maja’s most recent ankle injury was sustained during Albion’s Sky Bet Championship clash with Sunderland, where he fell victim to a rough tackle from Dan Ballard and was subsequently substituted in the second half. Corberan revealed that the 24-year-old is likely to undergo surgery and will not be available until the latter stages of the campaign.

“In the tackle against Sunderland, they injured all the ligaments in his ankle; it depends and the doctors still need to ask for a second opinion to see if there is any ligament to fix without surgery,” Corberán lamented on the club’s official website. “Normally, he will need surgery and be out of the team for the next four months. It’s the worst news we can give.”

Maja, who found the net once in his nine league appearances for the Baggies this season, faces a challenging road to recovery following this unfortunate turn of events.