It had been 826 days since Joe Williams last managed to ripple the back of the net before Tuesday evening.
It was while he was playing for Wigan in an 8-0 thrashing of Hull City where a certain Kal Naismith also managed to get himself on the scoresheet. So it was no wonder manager Nigel Pearson could afford a wry smile when he was left wondering why the midfielder had found himself so far up the pitch.
It was Williams' first goal for City following his transfer in August 2020 and it came at a pivotal time, not just in the contest but also across the bigger picture to help get City back to winning ways after a run of one victory in seven games.
It certainly won't win any goal of the month awards after poking it home from a couple of yards out when Jay Dasilva fed Nahki Wells' cross back across the six-yard box. Not that Williams will care after stepping up to the plate to share the burden of goals.
Pearson had been calling for his midfielders to start getting on the scoresheet with so much emphasis on the strikers and Williams admits it has been a tactical tweak in the last few weeks that finally paid dividends against a wounded Baggies side.
He said: "(My last goal) was in the lockdown days so it was long overdue. I want to add goals to my game and obviously the last couple of games I've been playing a little bit further forward so I think I can play box-to-box. I've got the energy in the legs so I can really add more to my game.
"I've probably been more of a number eight in the last two or three games which has given me more of a chance to get forward. Sometimes when you're in midfield as more of a two you're the link-up between attack and defence and you'll probably be more disciplined in there.
"Whereas when you play as two eight's one of you has the licence to get forward as you've got the extra body in midfield. So the last couple of games I've had a licence to get forward which has maybe led to the goal today."
Not only was his goal significant and hopefully the catalyst to notch a handful more throughout the season, Williams was happy to put to bed suggestions that he doesn't have the fitness requirements to play two games within a week.
The manager has been understandably cautious with his game time considering his previous record of hamstring injuries and importance to the side but Williams has just come off the back of a run which included three starts in six days.
"My legs will go stiff if I sit down," he joked before the interview. "I don't really think about the past now. I think about the here and now.
"Obviously we have conversations about where they think I'm at and what they want to do with me but obviously that was the main thing I was happy with today the three games in six days."
Williams also paid tribute to his midfield partner Matty James who returned from a groin injury to add a defensive resilience in the middle of the park. His deep-lying position in front of the defence is one of the reasons why Williams can venture forward and he admits he thrives when his experienced team-mate is alongside him.
Williams added: "Me and Jamo play really well together. Back end of last season we got a really good run of games together and we were loving playing together.
"We had a really good pre-season and we had one game where I thought he played really well against Hull and then he goes off in the warm-up against Sunderland so it's been difficult to form that consistency with things you can't control but I was buzzing he was in there tonight.
"He's a real leader and you know he's got so much quality on the ball and Premier League experience so I take as much as I can from him."
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