Pulis not worried over Ideye future

19 February 2015 03:16

West Brom boss Tony Pulis claims he has "not even thought" about the possibility in-form striker Brown Ideye could still leave the club this summer.

Ideye, the Baggies' £10million record signing, was reportedly close to leaving The Hawthorns on transfer deadline earlier this month after a difficult start at the club.

The Nigeria international, who joined Albion from Dynamo Kiev last summer, struggled in the early months of the season and did not score a Barclays Premier League goal until Boxing Day.

There did not look like being many more as his struggles continued throughout January and it was claimed the club were prepared to sell him at a loss to Qatari side Al Gharafa.

That move did not materialise and Ideye, 26, has since found a new lease of life under new head coach Pulis, scoring four times in his last three appearances.

Pulis said: "He has certainly looked a player the last couple of weeks. It is just confidence. He has scored a couple of goals and the weight of pressure and expectation on his shoulders, with the fee and coming into a new country, a new football club - it has taken all that weight off him. We're delighted."

Asked if there was still a chance Ideye could move on in the summer, Pulis said: "I've not even thought it. The only thing on my mind is going up to the Stadium of Light on Saturday and trying to get a result up there, which we know will be very difficult."

West Brom have enjoyed a resurgence since Pulis took charge early in the new year, winning five of eight games and losing just one.

That sequence has kept them out of trouble at the bottom of the Premier League - they sit 14th, four points above the bottom three - and carried them into the FA Cup quarter-finals.

They will look to maintain the momentum as they travel to out-of-form Sunderland, who are just two points below them, on Saturday.

Pulis, speaking at a press conference, said: "It has been a good start but we have still got all the work to do. The players can glean a lot of confidence from the work they have done so far but we still need those results."

Another player who was poised to leave the club on deadline day, but eventually stayed after a transfer to Championship side Norwich collapsed, was midfielder Graham Dorrans.

That move has now been resurrected in the form of a loan until the end of the season, with a £3million permanent deal for the 27-year-old Scot set to be concluded in the summer.

Pulis said: "That is going through. I think the club paid £100,000 for him and he has been a wonderful servant in seven years.

"I only worked with him for a short period of time but I found him to be a very good lad and a very good professional. Norwich have got a good player.

"I am sure he will help them get where they want to get, whether it is play-offs or automatic promotion.

"Graham will certainly be an asset to Norwich City Football Club. As a person, and as a professional, everything he did around the place was absolutely first class."

Source: PA