West Brom manager Tony has insisted that Republic of Ireland international Dean Kiely is still in contention for a starting spot in the Premier League opener at Arsenal in just under three weeks.

The Baggies signed Scott Carson for €4 million from Liverpool last week and it was expected the England player would be the automatic number one.

But Mowbray is adamant the choice for the clash at the Emirates Stadium will depend on the form shown by Carson and Kiely in the warm-up games and in training.

Mowbray insisted: "As I've said all along, it's down to them. I want competition in every position of the pitch. It's then down to the performance levels of the players.

"I will assess their performance levels as we go along and put the best one in - particularly when we get to August 16th — based on how they're doing in training and the games they play.

"Scott and Dean both understand that."