Valerien Ismael has his list of West Brom transfer targets

The Baggies, who haven't won in their last four outings, are in need of additions when the transfer window reopens – with a striker understood to be the priority.

A manager with a clear strategy when it comes to scouting players, Ismael has been working closely with head of recruitment Ian Pearce to identify transfer targets.

And the boss says the duo are on the same page when it comes to the type of player Albion need.

"It’s important to see the situation – we have identified the targets we want with Ian Pearce," Ismael said when asked about his plans for January window.

"We work behind the scenes and we know exactly what we need. We have prepared everything to be ready for the January window.

"It was important at the beginning that Ian understood the way to profile, that he understood the player we wanted and to give him some information to work on the transfer market.

“We have to find the right player with the numbers and we gave him that on all positions so that it’s easy to identify the right player through the numbers.

“He goes straight to the point."

Ismael admits it's harder to get deals done in January than during the summer.

But he says players that will improve Albion are out there.

"It’s not the easy one, the January window, because for sure the right player, the good player, the top player is playing," the boss continued.

"If you want to get them out you need to invest a lot of money, or the players who are available don’t play a lot, or have been injured for a long time.

“You never know exactly the reason, so you need to assess the situation, what we need, and when the conviction is there then we need to go straight away with 100 per cent conviction to get the player.

“He can help us now make the next step.”