Albion have been plunged into a striker crisis after losing Leo Ulloa to a suspected left foot fracture.

Ulloa faces a long absence after he was injured early in the second half of last night’s 1-1 home draw against Sheffield Wednesday.

The damage sustained by the Seagulls’ Argentinian top scorer on his return from a three-match ban will be clarified by the club today.

He was stretchered off and later taken to hospital after collapsing in a heap after trying to latch on to a pass from captain Gordon Greer.

Head coach Oscar Garcia told The Argus: “If it’s the injury I think it is, it is an injury you can normally do alone, turning or something.

“I cannot tell 100%, because I don’t know, but normally it is this type of injury.”

Albion have already been hunting a loan replacement for Craig Mackail-Smith, who is still on crutches after damaging an ankle during his recovery from a ruptured Achilles.

Oscar said: “We have to see how to improve the squad, how to improve the team, but realistically we have Ashley Barnes.”

Keith Andrews salvaged a fourth draw out of six for Albion with an 89th-minute equaliser to cancel out a first-half strike from Matty Fryatt on his full debut for Sheffield on loan from Hull.

The result keeps Albion in 12th place in the Championship, while the point was enough to ease the winless visitors out of the relegation zone.