West Brom boss Alan Pardew ready to tackle transfer market with long-term friend Nick Hammond

Pardew was occasionally at odds with chief scout Graham Carr at Newcastle United, but he's envisaging a healthy relationship with Albion's technical director.

Hammond knows Pardew from their days together at Reading, and recommended the 56-year-old to the rest of board when Tony Pulis was sacked.

"I think it was important I got a club where I thought I could take it forward and an environment to give me a good chance," said Pardew. "I wanted to make sure when I went back in it was an opportunity with people I really felt comfortable with.

"The chairman here and of course Nicky Hammond, who I worked with at Reading. I class him as not only a great working professional but also a friend.

"I think it is important you have that trust. He is not going to say to me, go and buy some £25million Argentinian when we have not got the money. He is going to tell me the market, where we are, our options.

"We might have a problem with this player, we might need to address it if we move on. You have some clarity and I don’t think anyone will get in the way of that. That is important."

Pardew refused to acknowledge whether Albion needed to sell before buying in January, but the Baggies' wage bill is stretched to its limit and players will need to be off-loaded before any others are brought in.

Although the new boss is pleased with the squad he inherited - he couldn't rule out the possibility trading in January.

"It’s good enough to stay up but when I look at the clubs who are involved, particularly around the relegation area, I know they’re going to do business," he said.

"You can’t take our eye off that. We have to grow as much as we can. I know from my experience at Newcastle you can lose key players in January, you need to be on your guard to replace them. But the immediate concern is getting our first win for a while."

When Pardew was asked if chairman John Williams gave him assurances there would be cash available in the transfer market, he said: "I’m not going to publicly say what those discussions were because that would be unfair on us in terms of our position in the market. I’m not going to hamper us with that."

Pulis admitted before he went that Albion would need to off-load players before bringing any more in.

“Let's make one thing clear, Tony had more information about the group than I do because obviously he has managed and signed most of the players here," said Pardew.

“He has far more knowledge of that than I do. It is difficult for me to answer. I will have to see how we go and assess quickly.

"I will take on board the staff I have here and their information, talk to the analysts and see where our numbers are and try and react to that."