Ben Roberts has set his heart on promotion after becoming Albion's first summer signing.

The former Middlesbrough and Charlton goalkeeper made his debut in Saturday's 2-1 friendly win at Crawley after signing a two-year contract.

Roberts, 28, had a month-long spell on loan with Albion last season during which time he helped Steve Coppell's side to wins over Wolves, Bradford plus a draw with Portsmouth.

Coppell moved for the player again last week after talks with Dave Beasant broke down and left Michel Kuipers as the only senior goalkeeper at the club. Charlton had offered the Bishop Auckland-born keeper a new contract but he had no hesitation in returning to Albion on a Bosman.

Roberts said: "When I left last year I had a good chat with the manager and I made it clear that I would like to come back.

"If Albion had stayed up things would have been done a lot quicker. I really wanted to come back and once the manager got in touch I was delighted.

"I spoke to quite a few other clubs but the reason I left Charlton was I didn't want to sit on the bench every week.

"I have had a good time at Charlton but I need to play first team football and that has been the priority during the summer when I have been chatting to other clubs. I am looking forward to the challenge with Michel."

Now Roberts is hoping to be part of a promotion challenging squad.

He said: "If you want to go straight back up you have got to have good, healthy competition for every position.

"I wouldn't have come if there was anything negative about it. It was a disappointment losing Bobby (Zamora) but everybody knew that was going to happen and we have got to look to go straight back up."

Coppell said: "Ben was with us last season for a month and everybody was happy with him as a personality and also with his performances.

"I know he's got something to prove and I've got a very healthy situation with the keepers - Michel and Ben fighting for that one position. I hope they will bring out the best in each other and I'll have the difficult decision in who will be the No. 1."

Albion continue their pre-season preparations at Woking on Wednesday.