The West Brom verdict on Portsmouth’s chances of signing highly-rated ex-Lincoln and Cheltenham loanee Josh Griffiths

TalkSPORT’s Alex Crook’s claims Danny Cowley is keen to bring the 20-year-old to Fratton Park on loan next season.

This has seen the Blues reignite their interest in the stopper after he was linked with a switch to PO4 last summer.

To get a better understanding of Griffiths’ current situation at the Hawthorns, we spoke to the Express & Star’s West Brom reporter Joseph Masi.

He gave us the lowdown on the stopper’s availability under manager Steve Bruce and an update on his fitness, after the England Under-18 international missed the last couple of months of the season because of an ankle ligament injury.

Here’s what he had to say about...

‘Griffths is one for the future and is very, very highly thought of. He’s been in a number of England under-21 squads and is only 20.

‘When I started covering West Brom, someone from the club told me he is fantastic, so he is really rated here.

‘He is very much seen as a future Albion number one. They’ve lost Sam Johnstone and Steve Bruce has said he is very happy with Alex Palmer and David Button to fight out to be number one next season.

‘We think, as things stand, Josh Grifftiths is the wildcard and they’re expecting him to go out on loan again.

‘He was injured at the end of last season, so Bruce hasn’t been able to look at him properly.

‘From what I gather he will be back for pre-season training, but that hasn’t been 100-per-cent confirmed by Bruce.

‘I think he will want to look at him in pre-season before letting him go out. By all accounts, he’s very good and a very well-rounded keeper.

‘The next move for him will definitely have to be at the top of League One or even a lower Championship club.

‘The only thing going against him and why he hasn’t been able to feature for Albion is his age. People are reluctant to throw in young keepers but he’s done very well.

‘After those two loans to Cheltenham and Lincoln, it’s very much certain that his long-term future will be at the Hawthorns.

‘Albion won’t be selling him this summer, they will let him out on loan but he won't be departing on a permanent basis because they really do think that highly of him.

‘He's been to Cheltenham with Michael Duff and Lincoln with Michael Appleton and they’re two managers who are known to improve young players.

‘There’s no doubt Albion look at that and Danny Cowley is so impressive, he’s someone who will look after players.

‘If you send a young player out on loan, you would be more than happy for him to work with Danny Cowley.

‘Ultimately, every player is for sale at the end of the day but I just don’t think he’s realistically for sale. If he leaves this summer it would be on loan.’