ANTHONY Knockaert has been hailed as a "good professional" after celebrating his recall to Albion's starting line-up with a goal.

The French winger opened the scoring with his second of the season in the 3-1 FA Cup win at Bournemouth.

It was Knockaert's first start since the home defeat by Chelsea in mid-December and followed his exclusion from the squad at home to Everton and place on the bench as an unused sub at West Ham.

Manager Chris Hughton told The Argus: "He's a good professional and that's what he does. Apart from the goal I thought he was good.

"His contribution over the 90 minutes, he looked fit, which is what you always want.

"Because there is always that fear that somebody that maybe hasn't played as much as they would have liked, it's always stepping up to that level again."

Knockaert was set up by Jurgen Locadia, who has enjoyed a rich vein of form since breaking back into the team in last month's Premier League defeat at Bournemouth.

Knockaert, who refused media interviews, had only four minutes of action in the three matches before the Bournemouth tie.

Hughton said: "He is okay. I wouldn't expect him to be at his happiest, or Kayal, or Bong, or Bruno.

"I think if you have got players happy that are not playing, they lose that competitive edge.

"He's been fine. He has done the same as everybody else, got on with it, which he has to.

"You are looking at a situation where somebody is out injured, the next thing you know they are playing.

"It might not be because of form, it might be because of an injury, then you need to be on top of your game.

"Locadia is the biggest example. So when he comes in, because of the way he trains, he managed to hit the ground running and it's a good period for him. Anthony is no different."