West Brom goalkeeper Alex Palmer suffered an injury blow in his side's 1-0 victory over Coventry City, reliable journalist Joe Chapman has confirmed.

The Lowdown: West Brom see off Coventry

The Baggies entertained Coventry in a key Championship clash on Friday evening, as they looked to continue their recent resurgence and head into the playoff positions.

They did just that, eventually battling their way to a 1-0 win thanks to Grady Diangana's solitary goal, with the victory seeing them jump into fifth place in the table.

Someone who played no part in proceedings was Palmer, however, with David Button starting between the sticks instead.

The Latest: Palmer injury blow confirmed

Taking to Twitter after the game, The Birmingham Mail's Chapman relayed news from manager Carlos Corberan that Palmer has suffered an injury in training that will keep him sidelined for around six weeks:

"Bad news on Palmer, I'm afraid."

The Verdict: Setback for Baggies

This is a big blow to West Brom's promotion hopes, with Palmer a strong performer throughout this season, starting 17 league games and being described as 'outstanding' by Alan Sheehan during a loan spell at Luton Town last term.

Corberan has praised the 'maturity' of his performances recently, too, and being without him for an extended period is going to be a big test of Button's credentials.

Palmer's passing accuracy of 64.4% in the league this season is marginally better than his teammate's tally of 63.4%, and he has also won twice as many aerial duels (0.2 to 0.1).

From being an afterthought at the Hawthorns to an essential under Corberan, the West Brom boss must now cope without his influential presence for well over a month in what must surely be a real blow for the Premier League promotion chasers.