Albion will target Chris Hughton to be their new manager if they cannot land Tony Pulis.

The Argus understands Hughton is a top contender on the list, which is British-dominated following a hat-trick of foreign appointments by the club.

It would be a case of second time lucky for the former Norwich, Newcastle and Birmingham manager.

Hughton came within a whisker of the job when Finnish giant Sami Hyypia was apppointed in the summer in succession to Spaniard Oscar Garcia and, prior to that, Uruguayan Gus Poyet.

Chairman Tony Bloom and the Board have identified successful managerial and Championship experience as the key criteria to haul Albion out of the relegation zone after Hyypia's resignation on Monday.

Pulis, never relegated as a manager, is the obvious choice but Hughton is on his heels. The 56-year-old former Spurs and Republic of Ireland international was on the coaching staff at White Hart Lane for 14 years before guiding Newcastle to the Championship title in 2009-10, Birmingham to the play-offs in 2011-12 and Norwich to 11th in the Premier League the following year.

The Canaries sacked Hughton in April when they were 17th, five points clear of relegation, but ended up going down.

Tim Sherwood, another ex-Tottenham stalwart, is admired by the Albion hierarchy but lacks the managerial and Championship experience they are ideally looking for.

An outside contender is ex-Celtic boss Tony Mowbray, who won the Championship with West Brom in 2007-08. He has been out of work for 14 months after three years at Middlesbrough, including finishes of 12th and seventh in the Championship.