Albion defender Tommy Elphick has been playing with an ankle injury since Christmas.

The centre-half was hurt in the home game against Colchester on Boxing Day but still played at Swindon two days later.

He also lined up against Leeds last Saturday and against Luton on Tuesday, despite having to wear a protective boot the day before the game.

Elphick, who has missed only three matches this season, said: “I turned my ankle against Colchester and, as I did that, someone came down on it. I’ve tweaked a few ligaments and the swelling is the main problem.

“I was lucky with the games that were frozen off (Northampton and Walsall). I was pretty doubtful for them, so I’ve had that little bit of time to recover.

“I wear a protective boot to try and keep the swelling down. I have got to pay respect to the medical staff because they are the ones keeping me going. It was fine on Tuesday, it didn’t restrict me at all.”

Elphick is not under-estimating the significance of today’s clash away to fellow strugglers Cheltenham.

“It’s massive,” he said. “Someone said if we lose we'll be in trouble but the trouble is now. We are down there and we shouldn’t be.

“It’s a six-pointer for us and we must come away with three points. We’ve got a game in hand on some teams but you cannot rely on them to get you out of trouble.

“We’ve got to make the penny drop somehow and when it does drop we mustn’t stop.”