Graham Potter has played down any January move for a defender.

Albion will be without Lewis Dunk into the New Year - though the hope is not for too long - and have seen Adam Webster suffer a disrupted season.

That comes on top of the £50 million sale of Ben White last summer although Shane Duffy’s return from loan at Celtic has been a success.

Potter was asked about any plans to add a defender next month when he spoke at his media conference ahead of the Brentford game.

Joe Rodon of Tottenham rivals Dan James as the player with whom he has been speculatively linked ever since he moved from Swansea City to take over as Albion head coach.

However, it appeared the question was also being asked in relation to a recall for one of the defenders out on loan.

Dependent on the terms of the specific deals, that could be Jan Paul van Hecke, who has helped Blackburn’s recent surge up the Championship.

Or potentially Matt Clarke or Leo Ostigard or even Alex Cochrane, best known as a wing-back but now operating on the left of a three for Hearts.

Potter said: “It’s not an area we’re looking to strengthen because of the players we have but you never know what the window does.

"It’s not completely disregarded, but it isn’t a priority.

“The loans, you’ve got to look whether it’s right for them to be recalled, whether it’s possible for them to be recalled.

"Sometimes the loan is there until the end of the season, sometimes you’ve got an option to bring them back in January.

“In that situation I can’t see anything changing really.”

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Albion are not big fans of making loan signings of their own.

Potter added: “It’s something we’ll discuss as a club.

“As a general rule, it’s not something we’re overly keen on doing, because obviously that means the guys we have aren’t getting game time.

“That isn’t best for us, generating future development.

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“But you’ve always got to keep looking, what’s the best solution, be open-minded. I don’t think we’re that shut off to things, but as a general rule I understand why that hasn’t been our avenue of strengthening