In July 2005, Kirkland agreed to go on a season-long loan to Bryan Robson's West Bromwich Albion in order to kick-start his career again. He kept a clean sheet on his Albion debut as the team drew 0–0 away at Manchester City. An injury to Kirkland in the first half of the 2005–06 season saw Polish goalkeeper Tomasz Kuszczak replace him, and Kuszczak showed excellent form and therefore remained first-choice goalkeeper at The Hawthorns for the rest of the season. Kirkland also again spent time out of action with a broken finger, and was told by Liverpool manager Rafael Benítez that he would have to move away from Anfield if he wanted to play regular first team football as new signing Pepe Reina had made an excellent start to his Liverpool career.