Dara O'Shea's injury is a massive blow, former West Brom midfielder Carlton Palmer has told The Transfer Tavern.

The Baggies defender sustained a fractured ankle while on international duty with the Republic of Ireland and could now miss up to six months of action, the club has confirmed.

O'Shea has been an important player for West Brom in this early part of the season. The 22-year-old has started the Midlands outfit's first five games and currently has the highest WhoScored rating (7.73) in Valerien Ismael's squad.

West Brom acted quickly by bringing in Kean Bryan on a free transfer, but Palmer feels O'Shea's injury is still a huge setback, nevertheless.

"Devastating," the ex-West Brom player said in response to the news about O'Shea's injury. "He's been very instrumental for West Brom.

"He's obviously got the experience of being in international football. It's a massive blow to them."

Other than that and a few other injury problems they have, it has been a positive season for West Brom so far.

They are currently top of the Championship table with 14 points, yet to lose a game. Ismael will now be hoping for Bryan or whoever fills in for O'Shea to step up to help the team maintain this excellent start to the campaign.