Windass ban is further blow to Pulis’ selection plans

Tony Pulis faces a further selection problem for our trip to Swansea on Wednesday.

The red card for Josh Windass at Preston on Saturday means he will miss our next three games – the midweek match at the Liberty Stadium and then home tests against Pulis’ former club Stoke on Saturday and Reading on the following Wednesday.

This comes after the news that Jack Marriott is expected to be out for six to seven weeks with a calf problem, with fellow loanee Aden Flint already sidelined until the new year following his hamstring injury.

Adding to Pulis’ problems, Dominic Iorfa missed the Preston game with a leg problem and Kadeem Harris is not available for the Swansea trip as he completes his three-match suspension.

Pulis started with Callum Paterson in midfield on Saturday but he reverted to his previous striker position after Windass was sent off. With his striking options restricted, he could keep with this latter format at Swansea but might be tempted to play Jordan Rhodes up front from the start.

Defensively, Pulis has spoken of looking forward to welcoming Chey Dunkley into the matchday squad after his lengthy lay-off since signing from Wigan in the summer.

Central defender Dunkley, 28, is recovering from a double leg break while playing for Wigan in February and is edging closer to a debut for Wednesday, Pulis saying:  “Hopefully, fingers crossed, he will soon be as ready as you possibly can be to playing because we could desperately do with that quality.”

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