Bernardo hopes he can seize his opportunity to shine after making only his third start of the season in the defeat to Everton.

The Brazilian full-back missed ten games with a knee injury he picked up in training.

But with Dan Burn out for at least six weeks with a fractured collarbone there is an opening for someone to make the spot their own and Bernardo wants to be that player.

He said: “I don’t wish anything bad for Dan, but that is why you have so many players on the team in case players get injured or are not playing that well and you need someone to step in.

“This was a situation where I was the right man to come in for him, so if I get the chance to keep playing I want to take the opportunity and do the best for myself and the best for the team.”

Bernardo believes he is the type of player that benefits from an extended run.

He said: “The more that I play, the more confident I get and also the fitter I get.

“It is difficult when it is your first 70 or 90 minutes and you get on in a league like this. It is very intense so you need a few games to get used to it.

“If I can get a chance to string together some game-time, in theory, that is the best thing for me.”

Bernardo hopes he can finish the season on a high after a second half of 2019 which was tough to say the least.

He said: “It was very frustrating for me at the start of the season, especially because of the injury, and it is not a nice feeling when you are sidelined and you see them doing well. But if you are not part of it at least you feel like you are not part of it.

“Now I am fit and I hope I get my opportunity to save my season and leave it with the feeling that I did something good.

“I am trying to enjoy this last part of the season, to finish it and look back and say it was a good season.

“Until now I haven’t played much so I want to make as much of my opportunity as possible.”

Bernardo was disappointed Albion could not come away from Goodison Park with at least a share of the spoils after Glenn Murray went close.

The striker came on in the 72nd minute and was denied in the final ten minutes when a header was saved by England No.1 Jordan Pickford.

Like himself, Murray has not had much game-time and Bernardo was full of praise for the 36-year-old.

He said: “Glenn is this type of striker that you can always rely on.

“You know that when he is on the pitch you can cross the ball and he will be really dangerous, especially in the air.

“We exploited that well and it was a good cross from Leandro (Trossard) and a good header but Pickford is a top keeper, so it was unlucky for us.”