Albion manager Tony Mowbray is happy to wait until the summer to find out if Marc-Antoine Fortune will stay at the Hawthorns.

The Baggies boss has heard nothing from Fortune on whether he plans to turn his loan from Nancy into a permanent transfer.

But Mowbray is content to put contract talks on hold, although Albion have agreed a transfer fee with the French club Fortune is free to pull the plug on any deal.

The manager said: “I think he is well within his rights to keep his own counsel on what his thoughts are, because I can’t at this moment in time question anything he is doing on the field.

“If I saw any signs of him stepping off the gas he wouldn’t be playing, but I see a very committed, wholehearted footballer giving everything for our club at this moment.

“My own view is that he is a player we would like to keep if there was a deal that could be done, because his quality is very evident and there to be seen.

“But we’ll wait and see what happens.”

Mowbray has still not given up hope of Jay Simpson returning next season, even though the Arsenal youngster has played down the Baggies’ chances of re-signing him.