Sam Saunders said it was great to be back in competitive action after his appearance for Brentford’s Development Squad this week.
The attacking midfield player got 45 minutes under his belt at Selhurst Park as Brentford lost to Crystal Palace in an Under-21 Professional Development League Two match on Tuesday night.
It was his first time in a match situation since mid-January, when he played for The Bees against Port Vale.
Sam has been affected by a knee problem for nearly 11 months and, speaking to Bees Player after the Palace loss, said he was exhausted after his first appearance.
He said he would look to play again in the next Development Squad match and try to force his way in to the thinking of Brentford Manager Mark Warburton for First Team duty.
“Ideally it was going to be half an hour in my first game, given the time out,” said Sam.
“But as we travelled here, we knew it would be a tough fixture, they had a strong team.
“With the fitness tests we thought I was fit, although obviously not match fit.
“It was good to get 45 minutes and it was really hard work.
“It was great to be back out there.
“I am exhausted but it is good to have that feeling, I have missed it.
“I have missed the pre-game buzz I had before the game today.
“I am looking forward to recovery, a couple, of days training and play again next week.
“I want to play as many games as possible to knock on the gaffer’s door and get back in the squad.”
Sam admitted he had been through a frustrating time over the past 11 months.
But he added the work he had done had paid dividends.
“It has been a frustrating time,” said Sam.
“When you are not playing there is a part of you that is dull.
“I feel the buzz returning, I missed the match feeling.
“I want to be with the boys and train hard.
“I have been on my own and it has been tough and lonely.
“I had to do it and it has paid dividends, as that felt good.”
Sam hailed the medical staff for their work in getting him back to fitness.
He said it was a struggle to diagnose his knee problem initially and then it wasn’t right at the start of pre-season.
But they were now nursing him back and had also helped his mental state over the past months.
“It has been nearly 11 months,” said Sam.
“There has been a lot of disappointment, scratching of heads.
“No-one knew what the problem was at first.
“We felt we had fixed it but it wasn’t quite right to start pre-season.
“We learned from that.
“I will be nursed in and as I get stronger we will do more.
“The medical staff have been brilliant.
“There have been days when I haven’t wanted to come in; you get that low, not being involved.
“Playing football is all I have wanted to do and when you can’t do it, it is difficult.
“They have worked double sessions, being in early and leaving late.
“I want to work hard to get back out on the pitch.”
Sam said the six-week plan put in place over the past months to finalise his recovery had worked well.
“We had a six-week plan and there were days that I would have off no matter what,” he explained.
“I want to train every day and I told them they had to be strict.
“So far it has been good.
“Hopefully it would continue.”
Brentford were 2-0 down at half time and lost the match at Palace 3-1.
Sam said he felt there were things he did well and others that he could have done better but the main thing was to get through the evening.
“I felt I did OK,” said Sam.
“It was tough out there; we didn’t get hold of the ball as well as we could have done.
“We felt we got a bit deep and kept giving the ball away.
“I felt I was OK for the time I have been out.
“There were times I could have done better and times I was pleased with what I did.
“The key thing today was to get through the 45 minutes and my knee being fine.
“The other bits will come and I was delighted to be out there.”
Bees Player subscribers can see an interview with Sam Saunders here.