The relegation-threatened Premier League club missed out on John Carew to Stoke, much to the annoyance of fans, but eventually signed Carlos Vela from Arsenal. Ashworth has admitted that West Brom, who last week appointed Roy Hodgson as successor to the sacked Roberto Di Matteo, made failed approaches for a number of other targets. "I understand - I get frustrated as well," he told the club's official website about fans' disappointment at a lack of transfer activity. "I don't think anyone is more passionate than I am or the staff at the club. We're desperate to succeed. "As the chairman stated, January is basically for topping up, and we haven't historically done a great deal in January. But January is very, very difficult. "We were unfortunate not to get John Carew in the end. "But it wasn't through lack of trying and not being willing to pay what people wanted us to pay. "He made a decision at the end of the day to go to Stoke City and I respect that. "We didn't sit on our backsides and do nothing through the window. We actually made bids on 29 strikers in January to take on loan. "Some aren't available, some had work permit issues, two were not medically fit to come so we pulled out, and two moved within their countries because they didn't want to move their families. It's a long drawn-out process." West Brom have conceded 51 goals in the league this season to explain why last season's Championship runners-up have been sucked into trouble at the wrong end of the top flight. But January did not see any defensive signings and Ashworth has explained the reasons for not reinforcing at the back. "From a defensive point of view, we sat down and talked about strengthening," he said. "But we had Jonas Olsson back fit, Gabriel Tamas back from suspension and Steven Reid was nearly fit again. "And, of the defenders we talked about, it was viewed by the technical staff they weren't any better than what we had, and they were more than happy to run with what we had."
