Tony Pulis: West Brom season is no failure

The Baggies finished the campaign in 14th spot on 43 points, one place and three points worse off than how they performed in 2014/15.

It was the fourth season in five and second in a row they have been top dogs in the West Midlands, ahead of rivals Aston Villa.

Boss Pulis said: "It's a disappointment. Failure? Go and have a chat with the three clubs that have been relegated and see what they think.

"We finished 14th, and there's a lot of clubs that wouldn't mind finishing 14th.

"Sky Sports say Liverpool played their second team against us, but their second team is worth nearly £70m.

"I've got a team of £23m, so there's a great divide in this league between the have and have nots."

Pulis believes Albion will improve next season if Saido Berahino, James Morrison – who is yet to sign a new contract – and Chris Brunt are fully fit and firing, while he predicted Salomon Rondon to improve.

Berahino scored 14 League goals in 2014/15, as opposed to four last term.

"We had Saido (Berahino) scoring a lot of goals at the back end of last season, but in the season just gone he only scored four (league) goals. There's a big difference," said Pulis.

"The season before last James Morrison and Chris Brunt were our main providers, and Saido was our main goalscorer.

"But they didn't play half the games in the season just gone, and that's three important players. Salomon was inconsistent but his attitude was fantastic and he'll be even better next season."

Meanwhile, Albion's search for defensive reinforcements this summer has seen them linked with QPR's Steven Caulker and Lyon's Cameroon international Henri Bedimo.