Albion's rise to the Championship at The Amex means an awful lot to Alan Navarro.

After years of toil in the lower leagues, suffering a serious injury and taking a risk that he would earn a new contract, the likeable Liverpudlian is reaping the rewards.

Navarro is the type of player it would be all too easy to glibly categorise as a ‘journeyman pro’. Apart from two loan spells at Crewe when he was a trainee with Liverpool, the dependable midfielder has spent most of his career in League One and League Two with the likes of Macclesfield, Accrington Stanley, Chester and Tranmere.

It makes it extra special now that the 30-year-old is back in Gus Poyet’s plans and breathing the rarified air of the second tier again.

Navarro told The Argus: “Every player wants to play as high as they can. I’ve always felt I could and should be in the Championship but everyone’s career takes them in a different direction with injuries and managers.

“If you do well and work hard enough hopefully you get what you want and deserve.

“I am not saying it should have happened earlier. There are reasons why it hasn’t. At the moment I am here for a reason, so I must be doing something right. Until the gaffer tells me otherwise I’ll just carry on.”

It has not been a smooth path for Navarro with Albion. Russell Slade signed him, on a free transfer from MK Dons. Slade was sacked a few months later but the arrival of Poyet turned into a blessing.

“I’d already had a bad period by then,” Navarro said. “In a way it worked for me. Even though Russell signed me I got injured in the first three or four games and then I couldn’t get back in the team until Gus came in and changed it slightly.

“I’m not saying I wouldn’t have played again under Russell but at that time it was working against me and results weren’t going our way. It was a bit frustrating.

“I started getting game time when the gaffer came in and that is when you get your match fitness and start feeling better about yourself.

“Different managers will have their own opinion about different players. If the gaffer was to go tomorrow another manager coming in would probably have a different opinion about me and I could be out the door. It worked for me. For some players it didn’t.”