GARETH Barry has spoken of his surprise and honour at being handed the captain’s armband in only the second game of his Albion career.
Head coach Tony Pulis gave Barry the chance to lead out the blue-and-white stripes at Accrington Stanley for Tuesday's second round Carabao Cup victory.
With club captain Jonny Evans still unavailable because of injury and his immediate replacement Jake Livermore rested from the starting XI, the Baggies recruit from Everton added another honour to his roster.
"It was a bit of surprise," he said, "but something I'm not going to turn down. It was a nice honour to lead the boys out especially as I had only been in the door for a few days and not said too much.
"But it's been very easy settling in. It's a very good dressing room and it's not taken any time.
"I knew a few of the lads anyway from being in football and it's been very easy to settle in."
Although he had played a full role in his previous club's pre-season training, Barry had been short of game time which meant back-to-back games from Saturday to Tuesday have provided a welcome opportunity to reach match sharpness.
"It has been good to get these games under my belt," he said.
"It will do me good for the games coming up.
"As a team, we just want to keep improving. I noticed last season the boys started really well and racked up a lot of points early on and came to Everton not too far behind quite late on.
"We want to keep up a good run of form and also a good cup run. I'm sure the fans are desperate for that."