Northern Ireland defender McAuley, who scored against Portugal and Luxembourg during the international break, headed in Chris Brunt's stoppage-time corner for the Baggies' first goal of the Barclays Premier League season in Saturday's 1-1 draw at Craven Cottage.
"It's not been too bad a week for me," McAuley said on wba.co.uk.
"Some of the lads asked if I could do three in three. I've done that so now I might have to try to score four in four.
"It hung up quite nicely and I just had to get my head on it.
"I knew if I got it on target it had a chance of going in (and) it was great to score in injury time.
"It gives you an extra buzz when you get a point in an away game in the last minute.
"We needed it. It was important we got off the mark. It's a monkey off our back."
The Baggies climbed above Sunderland and the Black Cats are their next opponents.
"It gives us a platform to build from going into next week's home game with Sunderland," McAuley added.
Source: PA
Source: PA