3 gettable players that would improve West Brom’s skinny squad

Three West Brom draws from their first three fixtures under Alan Irvine, with one seeing the Baggies taken to penalties by League Two basement boys Oxford in the Capital One Cup, is hardly the kind of form that will endear the Glaswegian coach to the Hawthorns faithful.

Irvine’s charges are 9/5 to lose their Premier League status come mid-May, and after an underwhelming summer in the transfer market, last season’s 17th-placed side look good for the drop.

There’s still time for chairman Jeremy Peace to take a few chances though, with the three men listed below looking eminently gettable – on loan at the very least – before Monday night’s deadline.

Anders Lindegaard

The Manchester United reserve has fallen from quite a height at Old Trafford, after sharing net-minding duties with David de Gea for large chunks of the 2011/12 and 2012/13 campaigns.

Lindegaard hasn’t even managed so much as a place on the bench for any of Louis van Gaal’s first three matches in charge of the Red Devils, with the Dutchman clearly preferring Ben Amos as De Gea’s backup.

The 29-year-old lifelong fan is known to be actively seeking a new situation, so West Brom would be in with a decent shout of securing his services.

Irvine already has one former United keeper in Ben Foster, but the England international missed 14 games last term through injury, and West Brom shipped only two goals fewer than Aston Villa, who were the leakiest of the teams that avoided relegation.

Jose Canas

The former Betis stalwart has been deemed surplus to requirements at Swansea, with La Liga side Elche – who need a new anchorman having sold Colombia’s Carlos Sanchez to Aston Villa – thought to be his likeliest destination.

Deep midfield isn’t Irvine’s biggest area of concern, as Claudio Yacob and Youssouf Mulumbu are both well liked at the Hawthorns, but picking up Canas – who started half of the Swans’ 2013/14 Premier League fixtures – would keep that pair on their toes.

Antolin Alcaraz

This Paraguayan is something of a Roberto Martinez favourite, having followed the Spaniard from Wigan to Everton last summer, but a season blighted by injury has seen Alcaraz slip to fourth in the Goodison Park centre-half ranks, behind Phil Jagielka, Sylvain Distin and new England cap John Stones.

A spell away from Merseyside, at a club where the 32-year-old would be practically guaranteed more playing time, could suit all parties.

Fellow veterans Joleon Lescott and Jonas Olsson are currently being backed up by Craig Dawson, who has made just 19 Premier League starts since signing from Rochdale in 2010, so some extra experience at the back would be more than welcome.

All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing.

Fancy a flutter? Sign up today to claim up to £100 in free bets.