GILES Barnes has paid tribute to Albion's medical staff for steering him back to first-team football after less than two months with the club - and insisted: "It's good to be back".
The 21-year-old midfielder arrived at The Hawthorns as a free agent in January having been plagued by injuries over the past two-and-a-half seasons.
His efforts to regain fitness were rewarded with an 18-month Baggies deal, plus a further year's option in the club's favour, at the start of last month.
And he completed his comeback with his first competitive run-out in 14 months as an 83rd-minute substitute in last night's 1-0 win over Sheffield Wednesday.
"It was good," said Barnes.
"It's been a long time since I last played so I was very happy just to get the little bit of time I did.
"A lot of thanks goes to the medical team here and the management.
"It was fantastic.
"When my name was read out the West Brom fans gave me a fantastic reception and that was nice to hear as well.
"Being around the environment of playing football was nice for me and getting my debut at home was another good thing.
"You always think that you need to get on the pitch in a first-team game to feel part of it.
"I have played a couple of reserves games but there is nothing like playing a first-team game and hopefully I can build from here."
The former Derby midfielder was on the sidelines ready to come on when Robert Koren fired what proved to be Albion's 79th-minute winner against the Owls.
And he admitted he feared Roberto Di Matteo would change his mind about bringing him on and opt for a more defensive player.
"It goes through your head that he might not need an attacking player and he might decide to sit back," he added.
"I looked around and I thought he might bring Abou on but he gave me my debut and I appreciate that."
Barnes was pleased to contribute to what he described as a 'scrappy' win and claimed he never had any doubt he could overcome his injury problems.
"It wasn't a big issue for me," he said.
"I have always wanted to get out as quickly as I can, even if I was on crutches I would have tried to play.
"It's never been a psychological battle for me.
"The main thing was to come on and be secure, and it was good to get the win.
"It was massive and we needed it.
"It was a scrappy win as well, which the lads have said we've been missing.
"We always play great football but if we can now start winning scrappy games there will be no better team than us in the league."
