West Brom boss Tony Pulis hints at interest in Jermain Defoe

The 34-year-old will be allowed to leave Sunderland for free this summer because the Black Cats have been relegated and the Baggies desperately need to bolster their threadbare strike-force.

Defoe has scored 14 Premier League goals for the league's bottom club, which is more than half of their total goals tally.

Although Pulis wants to bring the average age of his squad down this summer, he's open to the possibility of signing Defoe provided it is financially suitable for the Baggies.

The former Tottenham striker may be available on a free transfer because of a clause in his contract confirmed by David Moyes this morning but he reportedly earns £70,000-a-week at Sunderland.

"When you say he's a free agent, effectively he's a free agent, but that still brings an enormous cost to whichever club takes Jermain," said Pulis.

"We've got our fingers in the pie on quite a few players and we'll see how we go on those players. If Jermain's one of them, we'll be pushing on that one if we can."

Defoe is understood to prefer a move to London this summer, but the Baggies are desperate to sign a striker with an eye for goal.

Albion's problems up front have been exacerbated by a hamstring injury to Hal Robson-Kanu, which is keeping the forward out of tomorrow's trip to Burnley. Matt Phillips will also miss the game.

Pulis only has one senior striker fit at the moment, and he admitted it was an area the club needed to strengthen in the summer.

"When Saido [Berahino] left we had Robson-Kanu and Salomon [Rondon], a free transfer and a player that's only spent one season in the Premier League, so we knew that was an area we had to improve," he said.

"There was no-one there at the time [in January] that we could get in. And I don't want to waste people's money by spending a lot of money on just a back-up.

"We have to try and bring players in who are going to improve the first XI and keep the club improving that way. That's the way I've always thought about it, that's the way I try to approach it. That will certainly be one of the areas we're trying to improve."

Albion haven't scored in their last five games and have now lost four on the spin, but Pulis doesn't believe performances have tailed off.

“I don’t think we’ve played that bad," he said. "In the five games that we’ve lost, I don’t think there’s any game where you can come off and say the lads were absolutely out of it and we got completely outplayed or whatever.

“I just don’t think things have gone for us and it’s just how tight it is in the Premier League.

“Sometimes you need a break, you need to take your chances which we haven’t done, but you also need a break as well.

“Even going back to the Leicester game, they’ve had one shot and they score from and that’s from a mistake from one of our players.

“It’s tight margins, which is what I’ve said when we’re doing well. Things can spin the other way and they do spin the other way.

“We’re not that good to think we can get through things unless we breaks at the right time and people take their opportunities and chances.”

Despite his small squad, the Baggies boss is planning to make some changes to his line-up tomorrow.

Skipper Darren Fletcher could be reinstated to the line-up after he was rested last week, James McClean may get a start, and there is likely to be minutes for youngsters Sam Field and Jonathan Leko.

"Matty Phillips and Robson-Kanu are unfortunately not going to be fit again," said Pulis. "In the areas where you'd like to spin one or two things around, we haven't got that opportunity. We might make a few changes, freshen things up and see how we go."