WANDERERS have sunk deeper into a defensive crisis after Tim Ream suffered a horror head injury against QPR last night.

The American defender was pole-axed just 15 SECONDS into the 2-1 defeat at Loftus Road and must now be a major doubt for this weekend’s trip to Ipswich Town.

Dougie Freedman was forced to give Hayden White his debut from the bench, moving Alex Baptiste over to the left side of defence.

But whether he risks the untested teenager, who had never played a senior game before his baptism of fire against Harry Redknapp’s title chasers, remains to be seen.

Wanderers are waiting to see if Cardiff City will allow Kevin McNaughton to come out for a second spell on loan and are also hoping for good news on Craig Dawson, who it is now known will be allowed to leave West Brom on loan in the near future.

The former Radcliffe Borough man held talks with West Brom sporting director Richard Garlick earlier this week and now faces a likely choice between the Whites and local rivals Wigan Athletic.

But the lack of any kind of left-sided defender in Freedman’s senior squad could now force the Wanderers boss into an emergency rethink before the weekend.

After an encouraging first half, the Whites were unlucky to fall behind to a Charlie Austin header. Karl Henry doubled their lead with a fine volley shortly after the restart but while Jay Spearing gave some hope with a late effort, Wanderers left it too late to muster a real comeback to get a share of the spoils.