West Brom chairman Jeremy Peace has warned fans new signings are unlikely in January.

"I have said year after year that what we try to do here is equip ourselves for the full season in the summer," said Peace. "At the start of the season, when we are on zero points and are as attractive as everybody else, we like to get the right players in to see us through the season.

"We have always said January is just for 'topping up' because of injuries - like Ishmael Miller - or for players who might be nearing suspension.

"There might be one or two weaknesses within the squad that become apparent and that we need to tweak.

"A full-scale buying operation in January is always very difficult because prices tend to get inflated.

"I don't think there will be many big-money transfers, given the economic environment. We have the big one going out of Portsmouth and there will be one or two but relatively speaking I think it will be quiet.

"Against that backdrop our spending on transfers in the summer window was in the top half of the Premier League.

"We have tried to get the right quality of players in here by spending in the summer.

"Come January, the manager has already set out on many occasions what his thoughts are with regards to topping up with loans, which I think is a very sensible course of action, and we also have to ensure that we get the right quality of player here.

"We have talked about evolving and strengthening the squad, which is what we want to do to give us an improvement in our squad strength for the second half of the season."