WEST BROM manager Tony Mowbray has insisted Dean Kiely is still in contention for a starting spot in the Premier League opener at Arsenal in just under three weeks.

Newly-promoted West Brom signed Scott Carson for €4.1 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 Republic of Ireland goalkeeper 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 16 - based on how they're doing in training and the games they play.

"Scott and Dean both understand that."

Mowbray is aiming to bring in more players to add to the seven permanent signings he has already made this summer in Luke Moore, Roman Bednar and Do-heon Kim - who were all on loan last season - plus Graham Dorrans, Gianni Zuiverloon, Marek Cech and Carson.

He said: "You can never tell in this game. You think something is imminent and then it goes out of the window.

"There are four, five, six conversations going on with other clubs at the moment. With a single telephone call, one of them might drop into place.

"But transfer windows are what they are. The further you are away from the league kick off, the more money players cost and the more agents stick to their demands.

"When you start getting closer to the kick-off, they start being a bit more realistic and come back to you and start making proposals, as opposed to the club having to throw money at everything. That's obviously frustrating for a manager because you'd like to put your team on the field now and have it gelled by the time you kick off."