Bouma Blow

Dutch international Wilfred Bouma has failed in his quest for fitness in time for the home game against West Ham on Saturday. Not only that but the left back could be out for up to two more weeks.

The good news is that the player, who injured his knee against Fulham in December, won’t require surgery to fix the problem.

O’Leary told the official site: ‘He’s still not right and he won’t be in the frame for West Ham. He looks like he’ll be out for another couple of weeks yet. But I’ve been told he won’t need surgery or anything like that.’

The pressure on O’Leary continues as his preferred choice for left back cover Gareth Barry misses the game due to a one match suspension after he picked up his fifth yellow card.

Jlloyd Samuel, who has hinted it might be time for him to move on, will be the obvious choice to fill the void.