Tony Mowbray says the Albion fans can decide in their own minds whether to follow up the booing of Curtis Davies by barracking Zoltan Gera when he returns to The Hawthorns with Fulham.

Gera was a fans’ favourite during his four years at Albion but soured relations by opting to move to the London club on a free transfer after earlier giving an indication he would only move to an “ambitious” team should a top offer come his way.

Supporters took that to mean he put money first – Gera’s salary – Fulham not including the ‘flex down’ clause he would have been required to take at Albion in the event of relegation.

But Mowbray can understand the thinking behind his decision.

He said: “I honestly don’t know what the general support-base are thinking. Curtis got a negative reaction. Zoltan appears to have started his career at Fulham well.

“If the fans respect what he did for their club in his days here then they should give him a decent reception and then get on with the game.

“If they don’t like the way he exited I’m sure they’ll let him know.

“I’m only really interested in the crop of players we’ve got here at Albion and trying to get a result against a team who aren’t going to finish in the top four or six and who we should be competing with.

“Zoltan’s a lovely man, a good guy, and I think he was looking after his future when he went to Fulham.

“It appears to me it was about security for Zoltan when he left, without going in-depth about contracts.”