Albion are poised to put Lee Johnson's future on a more permanent footing by offering him a short-term contract.

Manager Micky Adams wants to arrange a deal with chairman Dick Knight for the pint-sized midfielder to strengthen his small but select squad.

"I am going to Dick to see if I can get him on a short term contract," Adams revealed.

"That would give us another body. At the moment there are 17 first team lads and three goalkeepers.

"Lee would make it 21 and over Christmas it might be wise to tie him up."

Johnson, 19, joined Albion on a non-contract basis in August after Watford released him.

The 5ft 6ins son of Latvian manager Gary Johnson has been a regular in the reserves.

He took just 13 minutes to score on his first team debut in last week's LDV Vans Trophy victory against Cardiff and was in the 18-man squad for Saturday's FA Cup exit at Scunthorpe without making it onto the bench.

"He has got ability," said Adams. "He can pass and play, but there are other aspects of his game he needs to improve on.

"It's competitive in the Third Division and he knows he has got to be more aggressive at times."

Albion's squad has been reduced since the start of the season by the retirement of the injured Warren Aspinall, the release of Ben Andrews and Danny Davis and Darren Carr's recent loan move to Rotherham.

"We had a deliberate policy pre-season of quality rather than quantity and nothing has changed," Adams added.

"If it gets to stupid proportions we can always look into the loan system."