Tony Mowbray is looking forward to working with West Bromwich Albion forward Josh Maja in due course - having revealed that he came oh so close to recruiting him previously in his managerial career. Mowbray has inherited Maja at The Hawthorns, but found the forward to be sidelined with a leg injury upon his arrival.

Maja is Albion's top scorer with 12 goals in 26 appearances this term, a very healthy return from a dangerous forward whose abilities have been missed in his absence since the middle of last month. Indeed it was the case for most of last season, too, after Maja was on the receiving end of two poor challenges from opposing defenders which led to lengthy spells out.

In the intervening period since Maja was struck down this season, Albion have managed to recruit Adam Armstrong and Will Lankshear on loan deals until the end of the campaign and, when you throw in the returning Daryl Dike too, it leaves a mouthwatering plethora of attacking talent - but potential difficult decisions to make further down the line.

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Mowbray has been a fan of Maja for a while, certainly pre-dating this, his second spell in charge of the club, and he revealed that, while at Blackburn Rovers, he came close to signing him.

"I think he's in the building today, actually," Mowbray said. "I haven't sat down with him for a one on one yet, but I do know Josh because we had him in the building at Blackburn Rovers not too many years ago, trying to sign him. It didn't happen, but he's a nice kid. I watched some pundits picking their EFL team of the year and he got picked, which shows he's had a really good season.

"I'm looking forward to working with him really. We selected him at Blackburn because we felt he was a player who could help and we have inherited him at this club. I'm looking forward to working with him on the grass and the type of player he is - he likes to come to the ball, technically good but he gets in the box and scores goals.

"We're looking to get him fit but we're not pushing him too hard. He's had an operation so he needs to recover and recuperate. He'll be ready when he's ready. He'll really complement the strikers we've got."