Th 23-year-old striker, recruited from fourth-tier Salford City for £300,000 last Wednesday, popped up in the eighth minute of stoppage time to turn home and cap his debut from the bench against Burnley in sensational style.
Thomas-Asante was Bruce’s final attacking addition of the summer window, with the boss placing faith in his ability to step up and cover Karlan Grant in Daryl Dike’s absence. The boss instead turned attention to midfield recruits, which Albion failed to get over the line late on.
But the former Salford youngster stepped up less than 24 hours after a disastrous end to the window with a Hawthorns moment to live long in the memory.
“I’m delighted the kid’s got a goal, it’s going to make all the headlines, how he was on Wednesday was a bit of a throwback to somebody who feels he’s just won the lottery.
“And after he scored he probably has!
“He’s in form, what’s that six (goals) in nine? I’ve seen him because my son-in-law (Matt Smith) plays at Salford. I thought he’d got something, raw pace and power.
“He’s got to improve, he’s a bit erratic at times and raw, but these people sometimes need a chance. It’s good to see.”
Bruce labelled Thomas-Asante’s Baggies bow as ‘a bit like Roy of the Rovers’. The frontman’s name was chanted by home fans before his 70th-minute introduction.
The boss added: “It’s a great success story, isn’t it?
“A success story that there is a few gems down there, we’ve seen that because of the academies, big academies at big clubs with young players, you don’t see it as often as what you used to.
“I played in the lower divisions for seven years and I was always desperate for a break.
“I got one and within three years I’m captain of Man U, so it happens.
“It was a great ball from Swifty. God I don’t know how many chances we had, we had umpteen chances, didn’t we?
“We deserved it. It was a bit similar to the Liverpool thing the other night (against Newcastle), wasn’t it? We had goalkeepers going down and everything, all the rest of it.
“Fair play to the referee. When it went to eight minutes added time I thought ‘that’s brave, good for him’. But it was right.”