West Bromwich Albion boss Valerien Ismael has admitted he already knows what he requires in the January transfer window, amid the Baggies' hopes of gaining promotion back to the Premier League at the first time of asking.

The West Midlands side have started their season in a respectable fashion despite criticisms over their direct style of play, losing two of their last three fixtures but going unbeaten in their opening 10 games of the Championship campaign.

This early-season run has kept them in the race for automatic promotion despite dropping out of the top two after their defeat to Swansea City in midweek - and they will be hoping to build on their progress under manager Ismael over the coming months.

Although they have coped well with injuries thus far, with the Baggies moving to tie Kean Bryan down to a contract in September amid an injury crisis at centre-back, there are a couple of positions they may want to address in their bid to strengthen further and help to solidify their place in a top-six spot.

Considering their central midfield consists of third-choice Jayson Molumby and winger Robert Snodgrass for today's clash against Bristol City, in the absence of Jake Livermore and Alex Mowatt, this may be Ismael's starting point for January.

Keeping tight-lipped about the areas he wanted to address as he spoke to the Express and Star, the West Brom manager said: "The January window is always a difficult one because you need to take players who make an impact straight away.

"You don’t have time to waste, you play.

"We already have our ID, the only question is whether we can realise this in January.

"We already know about what we need and the games have helped us to have a clear picture of the situation and where we want to go to create the clear picture we see of West Bromwich Albion."

The Verdict:

Many West Brom fans would probably want another wide man to come in with both Karlan Grant and Callum Robinson able to play in the centre, but do they have a man who can score 20 goals this season and lead them to promotion?

Grant might be able to if he can continue in a similar vein, but Daryl Dike would be the ideal signing for the Baggies, even if he only joins on loan for half a season like he did at Barnsley.

The United States international made a huge impact at Oakwell during his reasonably short time there, so he's someone they should be looking at. Ismael stated the importance of any January additions making an impact straight away - and Dike could do that having already adapted to the Frenchman's system in the past.

And as mentioned before, a natural central midfielder to compete with Molumby, Livermore and Mowatt could be useful, especially considering how important this position is in the second-tier side's current system.

There's no real surgery required on their starting lineup though. Depth will be the only thing they need to address unless there's a real crisis between now and January.