Mowbray rules out summer clearout

Albion manager Tony Mowbray today ruled out a big summer exodus of players from The Hawthorns to clear the decks for his new recruits.

The Baggies are on the lookout for new faces to help them in their return to the Premier League next season.

But Mowbray has insisted he is not planning to force his fringe players out of the club in the near future, although he may be open to offers during pre-season once his own new-look squad starts to take shape.

“There are one or two who we might make available, but until I have conversations with them I can’t say,” said Mowbray.

“I can’t envisage anything happening until a manager phones me. I am not chasing people out of the door right now.

“But let’s wait and see when we come back. If people are putting their squads together and we get calls about players that we feel might be allowed to leave, then something might happen.”

However, Mowbray confirmed he will not be publishing a conventional ‘retained list’ with all-but-three of his current squad under contract next season.

“I don’t think we’ve got any players who fall into the category of being let go,” he said.

“We’re aware that we’ve got three players out of contract and I have got no news on them at the moment.

“I’m sure they will be looking at all the options they’ve got, with us being one of them, and they will decide on their futures.”

The three out-of-contract stars – Kevin Phillips, Zoltan Gera and Martin Albrechtsen – are set for further discussions, while Roman Bednar and Luke Moore will have their loans made permanent.

Another loanee, Bostjan Cesar, is likely to return to Marseille but Shelton Martis, Tininho, Craig Beattie and Bartosz Slusarski are set to report back for pre-season training to await news on any interest from eleswhere.

Newcastle boss Kevin Keegan has dismissed reports that he could offer Gera a deal. He said: “We’ve never even discussed that player. I know it’s in the papers but it’s nothing.”