Mowbray looks for loan raids

Albion manager Tony Mowbray today admitted loans could be his best hope of strengthening his struggling team when the transfer window opens in January.

The Baggies boss is targeting a striker and a defensive midfielder to bolster his team for the second half of the Premier League season.

But with top targets Kevin Thomson and Oscar Trejo seemingly out of reach in January, Mowbray is likely to turn to short-term signings instead.

"That's probably how the chairman would look at it, so there's not a financial long-term commitment to the club," said Mowbray.

"That's fine by me because if you have them on loan it's the best of both worlds.

"The player sees if he likes the club, we see the player, see if we're successful together and see whether we can make it permanent.

"Some clubs will only let players go on loan if there's a fixed fee at the end of it so you have to take a considered view on it."

Mowbray had hoped to press ahead with his pursuit of Rangers midfielder Thomson and Real Mallorca forward Trejo in January after chasing the duo for much of the summer.

But a cruciate knee ligament injury has ruled out Thomson for the rest of the season while Mallorca seem unwilling to drop their asking price for Argentine Trejo – thought to be £8m.

The Baggies also came within a whisker of taking United's Fraizer Campbell on loan in the final hours of the summer window before he was re-routed to Tottenham. Mowbray now says he would rather take players on loan to try to keep the Baggies in the Premier League than commit to long-term contracts for 'second choice' targets.

"We tried very hard in the last window to buy a specific player for the position, as we did with a striker until the last few minutes of the window," he said.

"Yet it didn't quite work and when it doesn't work then, as a manager, you need to get the one you want rather than just bring in some faces or names.

"In my two years here we've maybe done that at times and they're generally the players who are now on the fringes."