Saido Berahino got his first start for West Bromwich Albion since his transfer request was rejected last month and lifted his side to a 1-0 win at Aston Villa on Saturday.

Berahino had vowed never to play for the club again after a move to English rivals Tottenham Hotspur was blocked.

But the England Under-21 striker marked his return in style, poking in James Morrison's shot in the 39th minute to condemn Villa to their fourth defeat of the season.

Manager Tony Pulis revealed that the 22-year-old had cleared the air with his teammates and was back to his old form.

"He is very young and very impressionable and I'm sure if he could have done it again he would have done it differently," said Pulis. "The important thing is to get the kid back to what he was before the window opened."

The Baggies came out firing with Villa goalie Brad Guzan producing a fine stop to keep out striker Salomon Rondon's flicked header.

Albion's record Venezuelan signing impressed all afternoon despite failing to find the net as the Baggies' defence kept a fourth straight clean sheet.

Gabriel Agbonlahor set up a chance for the hosts after 26 minutes when he crossed for the onrushing Carles Gil, but the effort was blocked by Claudio Yacob.

But Berahino nailed the opener six minutes before the break with Guzan keeping out another Rondon drive on the hour before Villa were denied a penalty after 65 minutes.

Berahino looked to be inside the area when he blocked Alan Hutton's cross, with the referee giving a free-kick for handball just outside the box.

There was some debate over whether the ball hit Berahino's arm, but the hosts nevertheless wasted the free-kick.

Villa were again denied 20 minutes from time when Micah Richards headed past Boaz Myhill but the hosts had already been awarded a free-kick following a foul on Jack Grealish.

Substitute Rudy Gestede headed over the hosts' final chance in injury time with the win putting West Brom into the top half of the table with Villa one place off the bottom three.