Joel Veltman was delighted to mark his first start in the Premier League this season with a clean sheet.

The 29-year-old made his first start of the season in their 1-0 win at Brentford.

Veltman was due to start in Albion’s Prem opener against Burnley, but after being notified as a close contact to a positive covid case the day before the match at Turf Moor, he found himself missing the wins over the Clarets and Watford.

He got his first minutes of the campaign prior to the international break coming on in the second half of their 2-0 defeat to Everton where he gave away the penalty which Dominic Calvert-Lewin scored from.

However, in his first full game with a new-look Albion defence which had Marc Cucurella at left wing-back and Shane Duffy in the middle of a back three, instead of Solly March and Ben White which he was accustomed to last season.

But Veltman was glad to be able to mark his return to the starting 11 with a clean sheet.

He said: “To be honest this is one of my first games that I have played in this defence and it is kind of different to the pre-season game but last season we did have Ben, so I am really happy with that and let’s hope we can get a good win next week as well.”

The win over the Bees means Albion have picked up nine points from their opening four matches and sit sixth in the Prem.

But Veltman has urged them to build on their great start to the campaign.

He said: “We have to keep fighting every game and we have had a great start with four games and three wins and nine points on the board, so we have done well.”