Hulse, who turned down a £1.2m move from West Brom to Stoke City last month, is on loan until the end of the season, with a view to making a £750k move permanent in the summer.
"I feel Rob needs first team football," said Albion manager Bryan Robson recently, "to go forward in his career.
"He's now got Kevin Campbell, Rob Earnshaw, Geoff Horsfield and Kanu ahead of him in the pecking order and his opportunities were going to become increasingly limited."