West Bromwich Albion picked up a badly needed three points on Saturday after suffering back-to-back losses, seeing off Preston North End 4-1 at the Hawthorns.

Dwight Gayle got Jimmy Shan's side off to the perfect start, opening the scoring in the 27th minute with a classy volley before doubling his and his teams tally four minutes later.

Jay Rodriguez made it 3-0 just before half-time to effectively kill off the match with an emphatic finish into the top-corner.

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There were little signs of a fight-back from the visitors in the second period and it was West Brom who struck first again as Gayle rounded off his hat-trick with 20 minutes remaining.

Josh Ginnelly clawed one back in the 90th minute but it was far too little too late for Alex Neil's side as Dwight Gayle put them to the sword.

The Newcastle United loanee has been very impressive since arriving at the club in the summer with his trio of weekend goals taking his tally to 21 for the season.

And he handed his side a huge boost on Monday when he revealed to the Express and Star that he sees his future with the club, increasing the possibility of a permanent deal being struck in the summer.

But how should the fans feel about this?

Ultimately, it will mean very little until it is complete but they should be very excited.

Gayle is arguably the most reliable striker you can have when playing Championship football and landing him again would be tremendous piece of business.

There will obviously still be a deal that will need to struck with Newcastle but this admission from Gayle is a big step in the right direction.