"Some players you leave them out and they get fat and lazy but he's a good professional and he's earned the right to be back in the reckoning," Boothroyd told Sky Sports News after the match.
"He was great at Sheffield United and I'm delighted he got a goal.
"It's a long season and sometimes it's about sticking in there. It says a lot about his mental strength to keep going and he could have easily not put the work in on the training ground.
"But he has always worked hard and deserves his chance.
"I'm very, very pleased with the result especially after last week when Wolves thoroughly deserved to go through.
"We got the early goal which opened them up and the strikers we had all provided different problems."