It was not meant to be this way when they signed in the summer.

A crowd of nearly 29,000 at the Amex watched Albion's latest Championship setback against Fulham on Saturday.

A tiny fraction of that attendance saw Danny Holla, Paddy McCourt and Nzuzi Toko turn out for the under-21s in a 4-0 defeat by Arsenal last night.

They were in Simon Ireland's side as the three permitted over-age players.

None of them have been long-term injury victims like Solly March, whose intended inclusion following his late comeback as a substitute against Fulham from four months out with a stress fracture of the back was aborted as a precaution.

Holla, McCourt and Toko are all fit but were not selected for the starting line-up by Sami Hyypia as Albion slipped into the relegation zone at the weekend with the 2-1 defeat by the resurgent South-West Londoners.

Holla was an unused substitute, McCourt and Toko did not make the squad.

Dutchman Holla, signed in mid-August on a three-year contract primarily to fill the defensive midfield gap left by Liam Bridcutt's January move to Sunderland, has gradually slipped out of Hyypia's plans after a promising beginning.

The 26-year-old, formerly with Den Haag, has yet to live up to the Finn's expectations. Holla has not kicked a ball for the first team for a month since featuring in the 3-2 defeat at Bournemouth.

McCourt, richly talented but with an unreliable reputation, has also faded out of contention.

The former Barnsley playmaker, signed on a one-year deal 48 hours after Holla, had supporters clamouring for him to start after catching the eye with cameo appearances from the bench.

He played in the Capital One Cup at Burton Albion in September and in the next round at Spurs at the end of October but the Northern Ireland international has barely figured since and has yet to start a game in the Championship.

McCourt has still been given much more game time than Toko, the 23-year-old Congolese midfielder who was Albion's first signing of the close season back in May from Swiss side Grasshopper Zurich.

Toko, given a three-year deal, was hampered during pre-season by a knee injury. His first team involvement has been limited to 20 minutes as a substitute in the tie at Burton, when Albion already had the game won.

Holla, McCourt and Toko could do little to prevent a rampant Arsenal, coached by former Albion FA Cup finalist Steve Gatting, recording a victory as comprehensive as the score suggests.