Saturday Dec 24 2005 10:10
Steve Watson hopes to recover from his hamstring injury in time to help West Brom secure a famous Boxing Day win at
Manchester United.
The versatile 31-year-old missed the 1-0 defeat at Portsmouth last weekend because of the problem, which has plagued him for the last month.
However, Watson is confident that it will be sufficiently healed for him to feature at Old trafford - a ground he has never won at as a player.
He said: "All I have to show for playing there is a couple of draws. But records are there to be broken, so who knows."
The former Everton and Newcastle man is wary that rushing back into the fray could have a detrimental impact on his long-term fitness, but he believes sitting out of the Pompey game has provided him with enough rest to get things right.
He added: "I'm back training with the lads and the plan is to train for the rest of the week and be ready for Boxing Day.
"Before the recent Manchester City game I felt like I wouldn't even be able to start. But then the adrenalin kicked in and I thought I'd be okay.
"Things got worse and worse and eventually I had to stop and take the proper precautions because if you tear your hamstring you're looking at six to 10 weeks out."
Meanwhile, midfielder Zoltan Gera has suffered a setback in training following his recent hernia operation and may have to delay his comeback until later in the festive programme.
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