Gareth McAuley pleased to see improved former teammate Jake Livermore at West Brom

Albion's veteran centre-half played alongside the January signing towards the end of 2010 when Livermore was on loan from Tottenham Hotspur at McAuley's former club, Ipswich Town.

Back then Livermore was a confident young midfielder, but now the 27-year-old has years of experience under his belt and has bulked up too.

On Saturday, the £10million signing put in a man-of-the-match performance on his full debut for the Baggies, stealing the limelight from Stoke's new addition, former Albion striker Saido Berahino, while helping Tony Pulis overcome his old club 1-0.

"I thought he was smashing," said McAuley. "I've known Jake from when he was on loan at Ipswich a long time ago.

"On Saturday he showed his quality. He's not a bad player – he's played for England.

"He's come on (since then) and definitely developed into a good player.

"The one thing he still has is a bit of swagger about him. He's got a great belief in himself. That's great and something you need at this level."

Pulis also heaped praise on Livermore, the only permanent addition to the squad made in January.

"He's going to be a good player for this club, he's got lots of energy, lots of good attributes," said Pulis.

"He's still wayward at times when he gets dragged out of position but he'll get his hands dirty.

"We've got some good footballers, when you look at Morrison, Brunty, Chadli, Salomon as well, so we need a couple of people who can get their hands dirty when needed and second half I thought he was fantastic."

Livermore was only in the team because Cladio Yacob was taken to hospital with stomach cramps. However, the Argentinian midfielder – who's been in imperious form this season – will not be out for as long as first thought.

He was discharged from hospital over the weekend with the all-clear and is due to return to training as usual today.

Even if Yacob is available for the upcoming trip to West Ham, he may struggle to regain his place in a team brimming with confidence following their sixth league win in seven at home.

"It's very positive and we're enjoying our football, especially at The Hawthorns," added McAuley.

"Hopefully people are being entertained and we can, as a group, try and move forward to 50 points which would be a great season."