Arsenal loanee Serge Gnabry plays for West Brom Under-21s after failing to make first-team squad

Serge Gnabry turned out for West Bromwich Albion's s Under-21 side on 7 December as his disappointing loan spell shows little sign of improving. The 20-year-old joined the Baggies on a season-long loan deal in August, hoping to nail down a first-team role following a string of injury problems during the 2014-15 campaign.

The Germany Under-21 international has featured just once in the Premier League this term, coming off the bench in an uninspiring 12-minute cameo in the 3-2 defeat to Chelsea on 23 August.

West Brom boss Tony Pulis has been critical of the player, insisting he does not believe the youngster is ready for first-team football in the Premier League. As a result, Gnabry has been left out of the manager's first-team squad in the club's last eight league games, last appearing on the bench back in late September.

The Gunners starlet would appear to be no closer to getting back into Pulis's plans after turning out for the Under-21s, playing for 84 minutes in a 2-1 defeat to West Ham United. He made one previous appearance for James Shan's side in October. While Pulis did not rule out using Gnabry again, his comments suggested the winger has a lot to do if he is going to rectify his situation at the Hawthorns this season.

"Serge has come here to play games but he just hasn't been for me, at the moment, at that level to play the games," he told the Express and Star prior to the home encounter with in-form Leicester City on 31 October. "He's come from academy football and not played much league football.

"Does academy football really prepare players for league football? And we're talking about Premier League football here. As a manager, you pick a team that's going to win a game of football. You pick your best team, you don't leave people out because you don't like them, because of this, that and the other."

West Brom coach Ben Garner described Gnabry as a "phenomenal talent" in November but admitted he was struggling with the "different culture" of football at the West Midlands club.