Express & Star

Ben Foster: Return was tougher than my debut

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Albion keeper Ben Foster says returning from a 10-month lay-off is tougher than making your debut.

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The 32-year-old made his first appearance for the Baggies on Saturday since damaging his anterior cruciate knee ligament against Stoke last March.

Albion drew 2-2 with Bristol City in the third round of the FA Cup and Foster was pleased to be back in action. "It's been a long old time coming," he said.

"Getting back out on the pitch is going to take a bit of getting used to – it's a million miles from training and playing under-21 matches.

"I think that's harder than making your debut because when you make your debut you've been training for quite a while and you're fit and ready to go.

"But when you've been out for 10 months you kind of lose all your bearings and what you are supposed to be doing and all things like that.

"I was over the moon to get the call and to be told I would be playing. I really enjoyed it. The result wasn't fantastic but we're still in the draw.

"I made a decent save for their goal, but you've still got to try and get it a bit safer than that."

Saido Berahino and James Morrison grabbed all the headlines for their respective goals, but Foster praised centre-back Jonny Evans for his hand in Morrison's last-minute equaliser.

"We were close to going out, we were slinging balls into the box and fair play to Jonny for being so calm and nodding that back across to Moz," said Foster.

"He was so calm and so cool to do that. I suppose that's what he gets paid for because if it had been me I'd have been trying to smash it."

Foster was England's number two goalkeeper behind Joe Hart before he fell injured, but he played down talks of going to the Euro 2016 finals in France this summer.

"I'm not thinking about anything like that – definitely not," he said.

"I've only been back in training three weeks and when you've had 10 months out to think about that is out of the question.

"I'm not thinking about anything like that whatsoever."