WEST Brom have become the latest Premier League club to add Matthew Bates to the list of Middlesbrough players they are watching this month.

The Baggies have spent most of this season keeping an eye on the development of Rhys Williams, and with boss Roy Hodgson keen to make defensive reinforcements before the transfer window closes on January 31, the Boro hierarchy are braced for a possible approach.

However, like Newcastle United, West Brom have also turned their attention to Bates in the last few weeks.

The Hawthorns club are understood to have had scouts at Boro's last two league games, against Blackpool and Burnley, and while their focus had previously been on Williams, they have also been running the rule over Bates.

The Middlesbrough skipper is out of contract at the end of the season, and could therefore be available for a much lower fee than his Australian team-mate.

Both Boro chairman Steve Gibson and boss Tony Mowbray are extremely reluctant to lose any of their key players this month, and Bates' form in the first half of the season unquestionably makes him an integral part of the club's promotion push.

However, his contractual situation is bound to have an impact on any discussions, even if it would take a significant offer to prise him away from the Riverside.

At this stage, Boro are confident of being able to resist any offers for their captain, but West Brom are likely to figure prominently in any summer discussions if the Teessiders were to miss out on promotion and consequently be unable to offer Bates a new deal on anything like the wages he is currently earning.

In an ideal world, Boro officials would like to offload a couple of fringe players this month in order to reduce a wage bill that is believed to be the third-highest in the Championship.

Ipswich and Bristol City are both interested in taking Stephen McManus on loan, but neither side has lodged a formal approach for the out-of-favour Scotland international.

Tarmo Kink has been offered a possible move abroad, but having travelled to Poland to discuss his future, the Estonian winger has returned to Teesside without an agreement having been reached.

As a result, he is back in contention for a place on the substitutes' bench for Saturday's trip to the Championship's basement club, Coventry City.