West Brom wait on ref’s red report before deciding on Slaven Bilic appeal

The Croatian was dismissed during half-time at Goodison Park when he approached the official having been left frustrated with some decisions.

But television footage later showed Bilic did not swear or say anything abusive towards Dean.

And that led to widespread criticism of the official from a host of pundits who felt the referee was too quick to brandish a card.

As it stands, Bilic will start a three-match suspension when Albion take on Brentford in the League Cup tonight.

But yesterday they were waiting on Dean’s report of the game to get his version of events having had more time to consider what happened.

And based on that report, Albion will weigh up whether to appeal.

Meanwhile, the Baggies have held talks with French side Rennes about potentially signing striker Mbaye Niang on loan, the Express & Star understands.

The forward is well known to technical director Luke Dowling – who worked with him at Watford.

A Senegal international, Niang is understood to want to return to the Premier League and was left out of the Rennes squad which took on Monaco over the weekend.

After beginning his career with French outfit Caen, Niang moved to AC Milan in 2012 for an undisclosed fee.

Aged 17 years and 350 days, he became the Italian giant’s youngster ever goalscorer when he netted in a Coppa Italia game against Reggina.

Loan spells at Montpellier, Genoa, Watford and Torino followed before he joined Rennes permanently in 2019.

Niang has scored 21 goals in 57 outings for the French side.

But he has also made headlines for the wrong reasons in his career.

He received a suspended 18-month jail sentence when he crashed his car into a tree – injuring 11 people – while on loan at Montpellier.

He also broke a curfew while on international duty with the French Under-21 side and has since switched his allegiance to Senegal.

The Express & Star understands Huddersfield’s Karlan Grant remains Albion’s preferred choice as they work to bring in a striker.

A loan deal for Watford’s Andre Gray is also being considered.

But with funds at The Hawthorns tight, Niang is now under serious consideration as Bilic looks to add more goals to his squad.

Elsewhere, promising striker Cheikh Diaby has signed a new one-year deal with Albion.

The 19-year-old came through the youth ranks at the acclaimed Le Havre academy but left the club last summer after his contract expired.

He then reached an agreement to sign for Valencia before that moved collapsed due to a change of manager.

Diaby then jointed Albion on trial and impressed to earn a deal until the end of the 2019/20 campaign.

He has now signed a 12-month extension and will continue his development with Albion’s under-23s.