[h=3]Leo is Albion's lone striker as no help arrives[/h]9:00am Friday 29th March 2013 in Albion By Andy Naylor
Leo Ulloa is Albion's only recognised senior front man
ALBION are sweating on Leo Ulloa avoiding injury or suspension for the next three weeks after missing out on a loan forward.
The loan deadline passed yesterday without the promotion-chasing Seagulls adding to a strike force depleted by injuries and suspension.
Their attempts to land Simeon Jackson from Norwich were thwarted, which leaves Ulloa as the only recognised senior front man for five of their eight remaining Championship outings.
Top scorer Craig Mackail-Smith (Achilles) and Will Hoskins (knee) are both sidelined for the rest of the season and Ashley Barnes does not return from a seven-match suspension until the penultimate home game against Blackpool on April 20.
The only orthodox striker back-up for prolific Argentinian target man Ulloa is development squad prospect George Barker.
The 21-year-old has seen just 11 minutes of Championship action, in the last away outing at Barnsley, and has made one senior start for League Two Barnet during a loan spell earlier in the season.
The other options for boss Gus Poyet if Ulloa is ruled out before the return of Barnes are to use winger Will Buckley or enigmatic Spanish playmaker Vicente as an emergency centre-forward, with Barker’s development squad team-mate Toby Agdestein out of first team contention.
Norwich were reluctant to let Jackson leave as they are still not safe from relegation from the Premier League and Kei Kamara’s loan from Sporting Kansas City expires before their final two games.
Albion boss Gus Poyet was at his desk at the training ground early yesterday morning, trying to clinch a last-gasp deal to ease the striker shortage, but coach Charlie Oatway said: “Gus won’t bring in a body for the sake of it. I would be a little bit different. I may bring someone just in case, God forbid, we went down to the bare bones.
“He is mentally a lot stronger than me in that sense. He’ll bring them in because he feels that person can do a good job for us and mix and socialise on the training pitch with the players in the right manner.
“Other managers would be a bit similar to myself bringing in players, which is a chairman’s nightmare. The way I see it, he probably does it a little bit more professionally than most of us.” The only loan deadline movement was out of The Amex, development defender Ben Sampayo joining non-League Bishops Stortford until April 27.
Original article
ALBION are sweating on Leo Ulloa avoiding injury or suspension for the next three weeks after missing out on a loan forward.
The loan deadline passed yesterday without the promotion-chasing Seagulls adding to a strike force depleted by injuries and suspension.
Their attempts to land Simeon Jackson from Norwich were thwarted, which leaves Ulloa as the only recognised senior front man for five of their eight remaining Championship outings.
Top scorer Craig Mackail-Smith (Achilles) and Will Hoskins (knee) are both sidelined for the rest of the season and Ashley Barnes does not return from a seven-match suspension until the penultimate home game against Blackpool on April 20.
The only orthodox striker back-up for prolific Argentinian target man Ulloa is development squad prospect George Barker.
The 21-year-old has seen just 11 minutes of Championship action, in the last away outing at Barnsley, and has made one senior start for League Two Barnet during a loan spell earlier in the season.
The other options for boss Gus Poyet if Ulloa is ruled out before the return of Barnes are to use winger Will Buckley or enigmatic Spanish playmaker Vicente as an emergency centre-forward, with Barker’s development squad team-mate Toby Agdestein out of first team contention.
Norwich were reluctant to let Jackson leave as they are still not safe from relegation from the Premier League and Kei Kamara’s loan from Sporting Kansas City expires before their final two games.
Albion boss Gus Poyet was at his desk at the training ground early yesterday morning, trying to clinch a last-gasp deal to ease the striker shortage, but coach Charlie Oatway said: “Gus won’t bring in a body for the sake of it. I would be a little bit different. I may bring someone just in case, God forbid, we went down to the bare bones.
“He is mentally a lot stronger than me in that sense. He’ll bring them in because he feels that person can do a good job for us and mix and socialise on the training pitch with the players in the right manner.
“Other managers would be a bit similar to myself bringing in players, which is a chairman’s nightmare. The way I see it, he probably does it a little bit more professionally than most of us.” The only loan deadline movement was out of The Amex, development defender Ben Sampayo joining non-League Bishops Stortford until April 27.
Original article