Shane Long made an unexpected early return from injury to secure all three points for West Bromwich Albion at home to Bolton Wanderers this afternoon.

The Baggies opened the scoring after 16 minutes when Jerome Thomas collected a pass from Zoltan Gera before rounding Jussi Jaaskelainen and scoring into an empty net.

However, just five minutes later things turned sour for Thomas when he was adjudged to have fouled Fabrice Muamba inside the area. Croatian international Ivan Klasnic stepped up to convert the resultant penalty.

Neither side created much in the way of goalscoring opportunities after the break as the game looked to be heading for a draw.

However, Long ensured that wouldn't be the case when he headed in Nicky Shorey's cross from inside the penalty area to move Roy Hodgson's side into the top half of the table.