Albion put halt on Chris Wood loan

Albion boss Roberto Di Matteo has insisted young striker Chris Wood will not be going out on loan until the Baggies are suitably covered in attack.

Speculation is growing that the New Zealand international, who played for his country at this summer's World Cup, is a target for Championship club Barnsley.

Di Matteo is thought to be keen for the 18-year-old to go out and get some first-team experience week-to-week but, with Albion's own efforts to bring a new striker in so far coming to nothing, will not let him go until his own forward line is bolstered.

Moves for Frederic Piquionne and David Ngog hit the buffers for the Baggies, leaving them with Simon Cox, Ishmael Miller, Roman Bednar and Wood as preferred forward options.

The out-of-favour Luke Moore is so far down the pecking order he wasn't even among the substitutes for last night's friendly at Doncaster, while Canadian teenager Marcus Haber has yet to make a competitive first-team appearance.

Hence, until the situation changes, Di Matteo insists Wood is going nowhere.

The head coach said: "Chris has only just got back from the World Cup, so at the moment he's not going anywhere.

"We've had a lot of requests for him, but with our situation he's not going anywhere just yet."