West Brom's £3.3m signing Tammer Bany makes huge stride towards return as Ryan Mason makes 'we need' comment

Bany became one of the latest foreign players Albion had discovered - and they saw enough from the attacking midfielder to shell out a significant transfer fee on him.

But his time at the club has been hampered by injuries - and despite positive cameos from the bench earlier this year, he was restricted to just four substitute appearances, the last coming in a defeat to Bristol City in April.

He missed the rest of the campaign with a hamstring injury - and after returning and featuring in pre-season he was again ruled out and is yet to play this season.

However, he has stepped up his return alongside fellow absentee Daryl Dike in recent weeks - and he made a big, significant step on Wednesday evening.

The 21-year-old started Albion under 21's clash with Exeter City on Wednesday evening - coming through the opening 45 minutes against the Grecians. 

He produced a few bright moments - with a bursting run leading to an opening before he was brought off at the break in a pre-planned substitution, being replaced by Rio Parmer.

The game ended 0-0 but the big story of the night was Bany's appearance as he looks to be edging ever closer to a return to the Albion first team squad.

It comes after Ryan Mason discussed the absences of both Bany and Dike this week, insisting Albion need to get their recoveries right because they are both players they are going to need this season.

He said: "They've not just had a long time out recently. You look at their history since they've been at the club. They've had a long time out. 

"We need to respect that because we're going to need them, certainly. I think you've seen with Josh (Maja). Josh has obviously had a very, very long time out as well. 

"We need these players. We've not got a big squad. We need to try and keep everyone available or get as many people available as possible. We'll decide what's best for all the injured players.”