West Brom striker Salomon Rondon backed to build on first Hawthorns goal in 2017

Albion's no.9 scored at The Hawthorns for the first time in 2017 during Saturday's 2-2 draw with Watford.

It came after Baggies boss Tony Pulis admitted he was 'desperate' to sign another striker in the summer transfer window and hinted that he would look to bolster that area in January.

But Pulis reckons Rondon's first league goal of the season will boost his confidence which suffered towards the end of last season during his barren spell.

"I thought Salomon did brilliantly," said Pulis. "He tired at the end, but I thought he did brilliantly.

"It's a goal that should give him great confidence which is great for us.

"We're desperate for Salomon to hit a bit of form again and that will help us enormously.

"He's a good player and when he scores goals and his confidence comes back he has shown already he is capable of getting goals at this level."

Rondon hadn't started either of the previous two games with Pulis preferring Hal Robson-Kanu and Jay Rodriguez up front.

But the Baggies boss reinstated the £12million man to his starting line-up and rewarded just 18 minutes in when he latched onto Grzegorz Krychowiak's inch-perfect ball over the top and tucked the ball under Heurelho Gomes.

And it was a goal well-received by Rondon's team-mates.

"He's been in and out of the team lately," said skipper Jonny Evans. "But he showed his determination and his work rate.

"You could see from his face it was really pleasing for him and all the lads were delighted for him, I gave him a little kiss on the cheek myself.

"He works very hard for the team and that's something we all appreciate because the goals haven't come for him.

"But it was a very assured finish, he showed strength and composure."

Albion let a two-goal lead slip on Saturday and were guilty of dropping deep in the second half and inviting Watford onto them.

"I think it's human nature to back off when you're protecting a lead like that," admitted Evans. "You do retreat a bit. It's not always ideal but sometimes it can happen.

"They brought two on up front, we changed our shape a bit and hoped to hit them more on the break but it didn't happen.

"We've probably left ourselves exposed at the end, we did push forward and then they hit us on the break and won the free-kick."