Emiliano Martinez urged Danny Welbeck to stay strong when he suffered relegation at the end of last season.

Welbeck scored for Watford at Arsenal but could not prevent defeat on the final day.

That meant the drop for the Hornets as Aston Villa got the point they needed for survival at West Ham.

“Stay strong” was the well-meaning two-word tweet sent by Martinez to his former Gunners team-mate, along with a picture of the two of them together during the match at the Emirates.

Funny how things work out, isn't it?

The good news for Albion is Welbeck has indeed stayed strong and is getting fitter all the time after a chain of events which brought the two of them together again on Saturday.

Martinez signed for Villa as they reinforced after their near miss with relegation.

Meanwhile Welbeck left Watford and eventually teamed up with Albion.

The goalkeeper and striker came face to face after 12 minutes at Villa Park.

Welbeck came out on top with a classy chip and, just as pleasingly, went on to complete his first 90 minutes since that day which ended in despair at the Emirates.

That did not look like happening at one stage when he went down.

It was soon clear he was suffering from cramp and a planned substitution, with Dan Burn going on for Neal Maupay, was delayed just a moment.

But Plan A was put into effect once Welbeck made it clear he was going to see the game through.

That was important for the striker.

Welbeck remained involved – and was getting back to clear crosses as the final minutes ticked by.

Head coach Graham Potter told The Argus: “Danny was doing a great job for us at set-plays. The ball was coming into the box and he was defending really well.

“I spoke to Danny a lot and he said he felt okay.

“He went down with cramp but was okay to carry on.”

The Argus:

There was a sense of satisfaction about Welbeck as he spoke afterwards. But only to a degree.

This has to be just the start as he gets involved in the project Potter is piecing together at Albion.

His arrival as a free agent was something of a surprise and he was playing catch-up in terms of match fitness.

But might Albion have grabbed a bargain in a summer when players they have looked at – such as Ollie Watkins, Rhian Brewster and Darwin Nunez – were going for £25 million or more?

The word from Welbeck on Saturday evening was he is only going to get better.

He told The Argus: “I’ve not had my pre-season with playing games but I’m starting now.

“I am feeling fitter and stronger each week so there is plenty more to come.

“I’ll get my match sharpness.

“You can do a lot of training but the matches are what are going to benefit me the most.

“Getting another 90 minutes today is massive for me and is something I can build on and something I’m positive about.

“Every training session I’ve been feeling good.

“When I’m on the pitch with the boys, I’m putting in the hard work.

“You have got to be professional but you have also to realise sometimes you won’t feel as sharp or as fit.”

Of course, he might have had more reward.

A slightly heavy touch cost him the chance to again bear down on Martinez after some brilliant work by Tariq Lamptey.

And he later bounced a shot wide after Jack Grealish had played his own side into trouble.

Although Maupay did not earn such high praise, Alan Shearer told his Match Of The Day audience that the two had dovetailed quite nicely.

Both Shearer and Gary Lineker felt Maupay should have gone around Martinez when Welbeck sent him clear with a deft touch in the first half.

But they also highlighted the way two strikers getting into the six-yard box cleared space for Pascal Gross to slide the pass from which Solly March scored the winner.

Potter said: “They combined well. They ran for each other, defended for each other.

“It’s only the second time they have played together and we haven’t had much chance of doing 11 v 11 stuff.

“I think they will get better but we have got other good options who can come in.”

For Welbeck, the points, goal and minutes are good news.

Not least the quality of the finish at the end of a long run from Adam Lallana’s through ball.

He said: “I had a lot of time. You know Adam, with his vision, he can always play it through.

“I took a good first touch and once I was bearing down on goal there are obviously different options you can take.

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“Once I got close, I knew what I was going to do and it was the right one.

“We felt we didn’t take enough advantage of some of the opportunities we got into in the first half.

“But the most important thing is to get the three points.

“We can build on that. We know we can do better in certain situations.”

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Potter added: “Danny has done a lot of individual work.

“You can’t do too much too soon, otherwise he is going to be too fatigued and causing a problem with injury.

“We are trying to balance it, as we have done with Adam Lallana a little bit.

“Sometimes we do it well, sometimes not, but I’m delighted for Danny.

“He has been like a breath of fresh air to us.”