West Brom manager Tony Mowbray has admitted the re-emergence of midfielder Filipe Teixeira after a 10-month injury lay-off is like having a new signing at his disposal.
Teixiera suffered cruciate ligament damage against Plymouth in March which kept him out of action until November and then injury niggles have delayed his comeback.
But the Portuguese player finally returned to the starting line-up in the midweek FA Cup win at Peterborough and could be in line for his first Barclays Premier League start against Middlesbrough at the Hawthorns on Saturday.
Mowbray said: "Frustration is the right word for how Filipe has been feeling. He was on the verge of coming back the other week and pulled his calf in the warm-up.
"He has had a cruciate injury and the body takes time to re-adjust to full fitness. The knee might be fine but it compensates in other ways, in the calves and groins, and you get little niggles.
"We talked to him about that and how he had to be mentally tough but now he is back and hopefully he will have an important part to play for us."
Mowbray added: "Filipe will be like a new signing once he is back on the pitch on a regular basis. I felt it was best to start him against Peterborough on Tuesday and get him up and running.
"I thought, particularly early on, he was a real threat. He showed his trademark twists and turns. He's a talented individual and we've missed his threat.
"Let's hope he can now get up and running in the Premier League and be a threat for us every week. I hope there is more to come and we need creativity.
"Ball retention isn't a problem for us. We can control games, even against some of the top teams. Let's hope Filipe can have the creative touch to get us in those areas to score goals."
