Jota made further steps on the road to recovery with a 10-minute cameo in Brentford’s 2-0 win over Milton Keynes Dons on Saturday.
The Spaniard has been out of the team since he picked up an ankle injury on the opening day of the season against Ipswich Town. After successfully undergoing surgery and a period of rehabilitation, he marked his return by replacing Ryan Woods in the 80th minute last weekend.
The 24-year-old sat down with brentfordfc.co.uk this afternoon to talk about returning to action, a new Head Coach and his plans for the coming months.
“It feels great to be back with the team,” said Jota. “I am excited to start getting back to full fitness.”
“The fans were great when I came on at the weekend, I really appreciated the applause and the noise they made in the stands.
"I'm really eager to play against Fulham because it is a special game, a West London derby. It's a match that I have always looked forward to since I arrived in London and hopefully we can get three points for the team."
The former Celta Vigo youngster has been impressed with his teammates in the past few weeks. Watching from the stands, the attacker admits he has seen some great football.
“The team are playing really well,” said Jota. “You can see the improvement from the start of the season, the guys have been working really hard. I now have to complete my recovery and get back on the pitch with them as much as I can.
“The new Head Coach has only been with us for a few days but you can see that he is a very good coach. He speaks to us about everything he wants us to do in training and in games. I am sure he will help the team as a whole and individually too.”
Jota will be training hard over the busy Christmas period to try and earn a place in Smith’s squads for the five festive fixtures coming up. He also took a moment to reflect and thank the staff at Jersey Road who had helped him recover throughout the last few months.
“I want to thank the medical team, who have been fantastic,” said Jota. “They helped me all the way through my time out and in training every day. I have built up my strength and now I feel really good.
“The most important thing for me is to play football. That is my aim for the next few months. I want to get back to full fitness, get out on the pitch again and win games.”