SOCCER/News: Rory Delap looks likely to be sidelined for between four and six weeks after tearing the medial ligaments in his left knee.

It is another blow for the player who had only just recovered from a calf strain which had kept him out for two and a half weeks.

He made his comeback against Norwich but limped off on 28 minutes when he was hurt in a 50-50 tackle with David Nielsen.

He went for a scan yesterday and was told he would definitely miss next month's FA Cup quarter-final against Wolves but might just be back for the semi-final should Southampton go through.

Physio Jim Joyce said: "Rory has a partial tear which won't require surgery but we expect him to be out for a minimum of a month, maybe a bit longer. We will have to see how it goes."

Disappointed Delap said: "This is all I needed because it will rule me out of the cup match as well as some important league games and probably Ireland's Euro 2004 qualifiers at the end of March."

Derby manager John Gregory has been charged with using abusive and/or insulting words to a match official by the FA in England.

The charge relates to an incident during Derby's 6-2 defeat at Portsmouth on February 8th. Gregory clashed with fourth official Steve Tomlinson and was sent to the stands during the game. He has 14 days to respond to the charge.

West Brom will be without striker Jason Roberts for tonight's Premiership clash with Fulham at Loftus Road. Roberts starts a three-match suspension after losing his appeal against his sending-off at Manchester City this month.

Lee Hughes, Danny Dichio and Scott Dobie will be vying for the striking roles as Albion look for the victory which would put them just one point behind fourth-from-bottom Bolton.

Fulham have three players ruled out with hamstring injuries: winger Luis Boa Morte, midfielder Sylvain Legwinski and centre-back Zat Knight.