Gus Poyet has challenged Will Hoskins to force his way back into the Albion first team.

But he does not expect the striker to be ready to compete for a place in the home game against Middlesbrough on Saturday.

Hoskins returns to full training with the rest of the squad tomorrow after recovering from a broken foot sustained in pre-season.

Poyet was disappointed to see the striker opt to join Sheffield United on loan for the second half of last season.

But the Albion boss said: “There is nothing for or against. He is under contract and it depends on a lot of options.

“He left last January, he never played for us again.

“It depends on him now, not on me. It is not in my hands, it’s in his hands.

“It depends if he is good enough to perform.

“If you can do better than someone else, you can play.”

Hoskins has not been listed in the Albion squad printed on the back of the match programme for home games.

The same applies to out of favour Matt Sparrow and Romain Vincelot.

Poyet said: “When he deserves to be there he will get a number.

“If in December or January, if the best player on the pitch in training for weeks is Matt Sparrow, he will get a number and he will play.”

Hoskins had made a bright start to pre-season before he was injured on the trip to Spain.

Poyet said: “Last week he was doing everything you can do but on his own – sprinting, jumping, turning, kicking the ball, passing. “From Tuesday he joins in with the team.

“That doesn’t mean he is going to be available to play straight away.”

Craig Mackail-Smith, Andrew Crofts, Will Buckley and Vicente are also due to rejoin the squad when work resumes tomorrow.