Mowbray has the firepower

Baggies boss keeps the faith

By Chris Burton   Last updated: 3rd September 2008

Mowbray has the firepower

Mowbray: Failed to add new striker

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Tony Mowbray is confident his current batch of strikers can fire West Brom to Premier League safety.

Having allowed last season's top scorer, Kevin Phillips, to join local rivals Birmingham over the summer, critics have questioned where the Baggies' goals are going to come from.

Mowbray admits he had been in the market for a striker prior to Monday's transfer deadline but insists he has full faith in those already at the club to do a job.

Content

"We worked very hard all night long but I didn't happen," Mowbray told the Birmingham Mail.

"I went to bed still content. We wanted to create competition in all areas and in my mind I would have been happy with one more certain type of midfielder and one more striker.

"But I wasn't through lack of perseverance that it didn't happen and I'm more than happy with what we've got.

"I'm not a follower of these pundits who suggest we are going to have trouble to score goals to stay in the league. I don't see the evidence for that but time will tell."

Impossible

One of the names mentioned over the summer as a possible target was Real Mallorca forward Oscar Trejo, and Mowbray admitted the Spaniard had been on his wish list.

"That one got put to bed," he added.

"People behind the scenes worked hard but there was a realisation that wasn't going to happen.

"From our point of view it seemed that his club had done enough business and didn't want to do any more."

Operation

Meanwhile, Mowbray is waiting on the results of a scan before finding out how long defender Neil Clement is set to be sidelined.

The veteran centre-half has been out of action since picking up a knee problem in a pre-season friendly against Mallorca at the Hawthorns on 9th August.

"Neil has got a problem with his knee. The best case scenario is he'll be back in the next week or so on the training pitch, working with the rest of the lads," said Mowbray.

"The worst case is that he'll need an operation. Let's wait and see, I would suggest."

To add to Mowbray's problems, Abdoulaye Meite and James Morrison picked up injuries during the weekend draw at Bolton.

Both men are doubts for their respective countries in midweek, Meite with Ivory Coast and Morrision with Scotland, although the full extent of their knocks is not yet known.