Last updated on .From the section West Brom

Harvey Barnes has scored in both of the Baggies' last two league games

West Bromwich Albion are confident they can hang on to on-loan Leicester City playmaker Harvey Barnes following speculation about a January return.

Barnes, who signed on a season's loan, has scored five goals in the Baggies' first 12 Championship games.

There is a clause allowing the 20-year-old to return - but Albion sporting and technical director Luke Dowling says Barnes might be best off staying put.

"It's up to Leicester. But Harvey will have a say in that," he told BBC WM.

"Ultimately, if Leicester say they're recalling him, he can't say I'm staying here. But he's enjoyed himself here. And he appreciates what the club are doing for him.

"I know that West Brom were not the only club in for Harvey Barnes in the summer. Many other clubs in the Championship wanted him and many were willing to pay Harvey a lot more money than West Brom.

"But he saw the project here, where our head coach Darren Moore wanted to play him and he's flourished in that.

"That says a lot about the boy and his family - and the way this football club managed the situation."

'The system we're playing suits him'

Playing 'in the hole' behind prolific front two Dwight Gayle and Jay Rodriguez, Barnes' form has helped steer the Baggies to second in the Championship with a league-high 31 goals.

That form also earned him a first England Under-21 call for Tuesday's 2-0 win over Scotland in Edinburgh at Tynecastle Park.

But Dowling suggests that rather than go back to the 2015-16 Premier League champions too soon and risk not being called up for the first team, Barnes would benefit more from building on his early-season form.

"He's come in and done well, hence the speculation," added Dowling. "But that has come from their Demarai Gray injury, when some Leicester supporters said perhaps we need Harvey Barnes to come back and replace him.

"If he carries on playing with us all season, then come July, Leicester will have a player who can threaten their first team.

"Personally, I think if he goes back there in January, is he going to be in the first team? I wouldn't think so. Is he going to be in and around the squad? Possibly.

"Is that the best thing for Harvey Barnes at this stage of his career? No.

"In terms of the speculation about Harvey going back to Leicester, I can't say. He's not our player.

"Obviously, we speak to them regularly in terms of how the boy's doing and his development, which is natural in any loan. It's how clubs work.

"As we speak, we've had no contact from Leicester in relation to him going back."

Son of a striker

Barnes is the son of much-travelled striker Paul Barnes, who scored almost 200 career goals in over 500 games in a 12-club career with Notts County, Stoke City, Chesterfield, York City, Birmingham City, Burnley, Huddersfield Town, Bury, Nuneaton Borough, Doncaster Rovers, Tamworth and Hinckley.

Barnes was born in Burnley in December 1997, when dad Paul was still the Clarets' first-choice centre-forward, but he was brought up back in his father's native Leicestershire.

He first signed professional forms with the Foxes in 2016 - and has already represented England at both under-18 and under-20 level.

West Bromwich Albion sporting and technical director Luke Dowling was talking to BBC WM's Rob Gurney.