Sunderland first for West Brom's Craig Gardner

West Brom summer signing Craig Gardner faces an instant reunion with Sunderland insisting he has no regrets about his three years on Wearside.

But the Baggies new-boy is adamant his return to home turf will mean fans see him at his best.

The former Villa and Birmingham man will face the Black Cats in the opening game of the new campaign, having ended last season as a bit-part player in their miraculous escape from relegation.

His final year at the Stadium of Light saw him drop out of the first-team picture, which increased his longing to return to his West Midlands roots.

He says his switch from Blues to Sunderland was not a mistake but, while refusing to confirm stories about homesickness, Gardner has effectively admitted he never fully settled in the North-East.

The 27-year-old said: "There are no hard feelings. I had a decent time there and the fans were good to me and the club was good to me.

"It was just a case of not getting as much game-time as I wanted in the last season. A lot of things went on, but now I just can't wait to get started here.

"Things were always up in the air from when I signed for Sunderland. There were a lot of rumours from the start about me wanting to get back to the Midlands.

"I never regretted going. It was my decision and if I didn't want to go I wouldn't have gone. But it was a big reality check.

"It was an experience for me. After being around Birmingham all my life, packing up and going to Sunderland for three years was a big change and a reality check.

"I played quite a bit of football in the first two years but in the last year I'd really made up my mind that I wanted to be back around the Midlands.

"That's the past now and I'm back in the Midlands and looking forward to a new chapter in my life at West Brom and I want to do well here. I'm here now and this is where I want to be.

"And now I'm back here I just can't wait to enjoy my football."

Gardner's free-transfer switch to the Hawthorns was confirmed this summer at least two years after he was first linked to the Baggies. And he admitted he was frustrated that the move did not happen sooner. "I wanted to come back and play here – it wasn't a big secret," said Gardner. "But then Martin O'Neill came into Sunderland and said I was going nowhere. I'm back where I want to be now in the Midlands, around my friends and family at a club I want to play for.

"The gaffer here has been absolutely brilliant and the work on the training ground with him and the staff has been top-class. All the lads have been really impressed by him and we want to fight and work hard for him."

Now Gardner is finally in situ at The Hawthorns, he is delighted with his first impressions of Albion life. "When you walk in you can tell it's a very close-knit club," he said. "The lads stick together, they get behind each other and they praise each other.

"It's a really good changing room and I could tell that the minute I walked through the door and in the first, second and third training sessions. There are no egos here.

"I started off at Villa, went to Birmingham and now I'm here at West Brom. I've been lucky to do that and I know the passion of the fans and the local people and I'm lucky to have the bond with the local people because they know what to expect from me.

"They know I will never give up, I will always work hard and that's the least they want. I'm looking forward to this game.

"It's extra special for me because it's one of my old clubs but it's another game and another three points. I just can't wait."