Joel Veltman was delighted to score his annual goal as Albion drew at Newcastle.

The Dutch defender struck from a corner to give his side an early lead in the 1-1 draw at Newcastle.

He has scored once in each of his four seasons with the club – but this was his first away from the Amex.

Veltman said: “My average is one goal a season and we had three games to go so I had to do it.

“I’m happy it happened at a set-piece.

“We trained on it two days ago. If it works out in the game, that’s perfect.”

Veltman was impressed by how his fellow defenders protected their goal as Toon sought a win in their quest for Europe.

He said: “Isak was substituted. He was not in the game so all the compliments to our defence.

“We did a great job.”

Veltman said he acted on the side of caution when he went off in the first half with what appeared to be a muscular issue.

He told BBC Radio Sussex: “Not too bad. I felt with sprinting, I needed to be careful.

“I could maybe continue but I would make it worse.

“I sat on the ground. I know my body well enough at 32 so I knew it was time to go off.”