Happy New Year? It is if you are Paul Reid.

Albion's Aussie midfielder has already started more games this year than in the whole of 2007.

And he reckons there is plenty more in the tank to make sure he makes up for the frustration of the last 15 months.

Reid completed his gradual return from a serious knee injury suffered in September 2006 by doing a steady midfield job alongside Dean Hammond for the first hour of Tuesday's thriller.

Not a bad way to bounce back from a calendar year which yielded just five appearances off the bench, plus several arduous months of recovery and rehabilitation and periods of concern as to how the knee would hold up when he returned.

Yesterday, helped by George OCallaghan's departure and Tommy Fraser's ill-health, that return became reality. And he looked like he had never been away.

Reid, clearly highly delighted after the game, said: "Hopefully 2008 is going to be much better than 2007.

"I really enjoyed it and I was disappointed to be taken off but the manager said he was saving my legs.

"I haven't played for a long time so hopefully there is more to come - it's a great start to the new year.

"I'm glad I've taken the chance now and proved the knee injury is well and truly behind me.

"When you first come into training from the injury, it's still in the back of your mind.

"Obviously at the start of the season you're always thinking is it up to speed and up to full strength?' but it's definitely behind me now."

Reid was presumably not in a position to hear Big Ben ring out 2007 which is a shame as it would have been music to his ears.

But he might have caught TV pictures of the celebrations from Sydney back in his homeland after training midway through our New Year's Eve.

By then, he knew he was starting against the Cherries and what the mission would be.

Bournemouth lined up as expected with three midfielders and Jo Kuffour and Max-Alain Gradel operating wide in a 4-5-1 set-up.

Reid said: "We got told the team on Friday morning at training (actually it was Monday but that's the festive period for you).

"We thought they would start the way they did with their No.14 (Danny Hollands) sitting in behind and picking up a lot of ball.

"Basically Dean Hammond and I had to keep our position. We couldn't start chasing players and get caught out of position.

"That was the aim but we changed our formation towards the end of the first half and I think that helped us."

Reid is a worker. He also fits Dean Wilkins' masterplan of having players who can control the ball, feel comfortable in possession and, more often than not, pass to a team mate.

Sound simple? Well, it doesn't always happen in this league.

Wilkins was joking after the game about getting Ian Chapman fit to try and add another player to the squad.

Actually Dean, what you really need is a playmaking midfielder.

Presuming the manager has no plans to get on the treadmill himself, Reid is one of those players who have the poise to do a decent job in there.

Wilkins said: "Reidy has been doing okay lately. We tried to bring some stability into the side and I felt him and Dean Hammond could do that from the middle of the field.

I thought he (Reid) did all right for us as well. He was steady at times and he has got enough experience to go out there and have an influence on the game.

"The only reason I changed him after we went in front for the second time was to get some extra energy on the pitch."

With six recent first-team squad members having either come to the end of deals or been laid low by a virus, there were going to be unexpected chances for others.

Even with those absences, Reid presumably had to fight off a challenge from Doug Loft, who did well as a substitute at Yeovil, for his starting berth.

He added: "You lose players but you've got to bounce back from that.

"I'm just glad I've taken the opportunity and proved to the manager, to the assistant, to the supporters that I'm still here."

"People haven't seen me for so long and it's just nice to show my face again."

How did you rate Paul Reid'\s performance against Bournemouth?