Loan duo James Tunnicliffe and Jimmy McNulty have been told they will be gone but not forgotten during their months in exile.

Everything had suggested the former Stockport pair would be on their way when they were left out of Albion’s two friendlies to date.

The moves became reality yesterday when McNulty went back to Scunthorpe for six months and Tunniclife followed him out soon after en route to a season at Bristol Rovers.

Both are going to clubs where they have made an impression.

McNulty did a decent job on loan with the Iron last season, albeit only in three games.

Nigel Adkins is one of the more astute managers around the Football League and he made no secret of the fact he wanted McNulty back, though, without splashing out too much cash.

Meanwhile Tunnicliffe returns to the ground where he scored his first league goal for Albion, in a 1-1 draw with Rovers in the opening weeks of last season.

Neither were ever really part of Gus Poyet’s first-team plans after the turn of the year.

McNulty’s only outing since Marcos Painter’s arrival was when the ex-Swansea man was cup-tied for the trip to Aston Villa.

Meanwhile Tunnicliffe had not turned out for the club in League One in 2010 and had time on loan at MK Dons.

Both were initially brought in by Poyet’s predecessors as players for the future and the current boss insists that could still be the case.

Poyet said: “They have got contracts. We won’t be giving them away.

“We will make sure we gain from the situation.”