Leon Barnett followed Curtis Davies in moving from Luton to West Brom

West Brom have decided to let Leon Barnett take several weeks rest before making a decision as to whether the defender needs to undergo knee surgery.

The centre-back has missed the Baggies' last three games after a recurrence of an existing complaint.

"He is going to take a rest for a few weeks and see how it settles down," said manager Tony Mowbray.

Should the 23-year-old defender go under the knife it would rule him out of the remainder of the season.

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"I am not sure if he is out for the season but we have to decide whether he needs to eventually go in and have a look or whether the knee responds to rest," said Mowbray.

Barnett arrived at the Hawthorns in the summer of 2007 in a £2.5m move from Luton and, although he featured heavily in the side's successful Championship promotion push, he has struggled for both starts and form this term.

He has made 11 Premier League appearances and was memorably at fault for the opener in the 3-2 defeat to fellow strugglers Newcastle in February when his mistake allowed Damien Duff to score.

With Abdoulaye Meite also ruled out for Saturday's meeting with Bolton, the partnership of Shelton Martis and Jonas Olsson may be given a chance to repeat a solid display that earned a clean sheet against West Ham this week.

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