ROBERTO Di Matteo admits Giles Barnes is at a 'delicate' stage of his career as he bids to put his two-and-a-half-year injury hell firmly behind him.

The 21-year-old midfielder has spent the last two months with the Baggies' medical team regaining his fitness and was rewarded with an 18-month Albion deal last month.

He made his comeback from the Achilles problem he suffered in August as an 83rd-minute substitute in Tuesday's 1-0 win over Sheffield Wednesday.

But Di Matteo, who has been impressed by Barnes' attitude, insists it is too early to say if he will rediscover the form that made him one of the hottest young prospects in the game.

"It is early days," said the Albion boss.

"It's a delicate moment in his career and we hope we're going to have a new player here and he'll be a great asset to us.

"He's a great character.

"He's very optimistic, very enthusiastic.

"He seems to have settled into the squad very quickly and smoothly.

"He works hard in training as well and always tries his best.

"So far I've got nothing bad to say about him."

Barnes is the latest Albion player to come back from long-term injury since the turn of the year, following in the footsteps of Ishmael Miller and James Morrison.

And Di Matteo must now juggle between how much football to give the trio as the team challenge for promotion.

"The same rules apply to Giles as they did with Ishmael Miller and James Morrison," he added.

"They've been out of the game for a long time and we need to be patient and give them time to find match fitness.

"You work them hard but they can only get that match fitness by playing.

"It's a difficult stage of the season and we've got a few players back from injury so I need to get the balance right to make sure we've got enough in the squad."