Beram Kayal says it is great to be appreciated after a long wait for Premier League action.

Now he wants to take out his anger and frustration on the pitch as Albion aim to secure Premier League status.

Kayal hopes to be available for the trip to Arsenal after feeling his hamstring in the first half of the draw against Newcastle.

That first league start since the end of November followed almost 90 minutes as substitute for injured Davy Propper against Wolves.

Kayal makes no secret of the fact he wanted – and felt he deserved – to be involved on a more regular basis.

He would love his contribution in the final matches to be on the pitch rather than around the squad off it.

He said of his return to the side: “It’s amazing. I want to play, I want to help the team. I didn’t get the opportunity for a while.

The Argus:

“I felt like I wanted and deserved to get more minutes to help the team, especially after a lot of good things happened to me this season with the FA Cup, with the national team.

“At the beginning of the season in the league as well.

“I was fit and ready to play more games but sometimes it is a decision for the manager so I need to respect it and keep working.”

Chris Hughton praised Kayal’s efforts at Wolves, where he went closest to a goal for his side with a 25-yarder which just missed the top corner.

It was fairly obvious he went out there to prove a point.

That might also have been the motivation behind the ill-advised shot late at Tottenham shortly before the home side scored their late winner.

Kayal added: “When he needed me against Wolves, I put everything out there to help my team-mates.

“I felt he appreciated that and he was happy for me to start probably the biggest game of the season (against Newcastle).

“I knew I wasn’t going to play against Tottenham because I can’t, after two months, come in and play three games in a week.

“We need to be together like a team – every single one of us to make sure we keep this club in the Premier League. We drive this team and we have been driving in the wrong direction for a while.

“We need to take responsibility and we took it.

“We are not safe yet but, in the last two weeks, we have shown a big reaction to the last few weeks here.”

Kayal has been popular with Albion fans ever since becoming Hughton’s first major signing for the club in January 2015.

His midfield efforts were the highlight of the second half of that campaign.

If you consider Albion to have always been quite comfortable last season, that 2014-15 campaign was the last time they really found themselves in relegation trouble.

Lewis Dunk, Bruno and Solly March all started the match in which he made his Albion debut, as a goalscoring substitute in a 3-2 defeat by Nottingham Forest.

The Israeli was player of the year in the high-flying 2015-16 campaign and his popularity among fans seems to have endured to a large degree, even though he is no longer the main man.

He signed a new deal last year, taking him through until the end of next season.

He said: “I’ve never changed too many clubs. I have had two clubs in my career in Europe – here and Celtic.

“When I come to a club, I feel it is part of my life. It’s a family.

“I’ve known the people here for a long time so it was the anger coming out of my character because I want to do more and help more because I didn’t have a chance. The best way and best opportunity for football players is to show that on the pitch.

“That is what I did in the Wolves game after probably three months when I did not get a game in the Premier League.

“I still say I deserve more minutes but it’s the gaffer’s decision and, like a footballer, like a professional, like someone who really cares about this club, I need to take it in a positive way and keep trying to help outside the pitch.”

Kayal had a smile on his face and a spring in his step as he headed to that Prem return against Newcastle.

He was more upbeat after that match, despite the hamstring issue, than after the Wolves game.

But can he and his colleagues be savouring a point or more in subsequent tough-looking tests against top-six opponents?

He said: “Everything is opportunity. It’s tough games against Arsenal and City, obviously. As you know, every game is winnable. We are in a tough time, everyone knows that.

“We can take a lot of positives from the last two weeks against Wolves and Tottenham.”