For the first time this year, George Tanner dusted the cobwebs off his boots to make a welcome return to action on his comeback from injury.
The 22-year-old was named on the teamsheet in Bristol City's Under-23 1-1 draw with Watford earlier on Tuesday, slotting into the right-back role in a game that saw the Robins move to the top of the Professional Development League 2 following Ipswich's surprise defeat at home to Hull.
Manager Nigel Pearson has been eager for 'The Messiah's' return - a tongue in cheek nickname in reaction to the clamour surrounding his impending return - from injury to go under the radar and understandably manage the expectations on his shoulders with City failing to find a winning formula at right-back since the hamstring injury picked up against Queens Park Rangers on December 30.
Pearson was in attendance at the High Performance Centre to see Tanner come through 45 minutes unscathed before he was replaced by the talented Zak Bell at the interval - at which point Pearson also disappeared to go about his business.
It only took 10 seconds before the former Carlisle defender made his first contribution, reading the game well by cutting out a pass that was attempted to play in behind him.
The club have been very careful behind the scenes in gradually building him up in training to get to the position where he is now and so it was expected that Tanner wouldn't be busting a gut on his comeback to make up for lost time.
A second contribution saw him shield off his man inside his own box before winning a free-kick, showing some experience picked up in the five League Two matches and 12 Championship games he has got under his belt this season.
Often reluctant to go forward at will, Tanner was happy to play a more defensive role which may have contributed to City's lacklustre attacking display in the first half. But while he failed to make much of an impact in forward positions, there was certainly room for optimism on his defensive side of the game with Watford struggling to get any joy down the left side of the field.
There were a couple of occasions where Tanner showed he was unsurprisingly rusty on his comeback. In the 10th minute, he attempted to play a cross-field pass to Barney Soady but it was over-hit and the ball harmlessly went out of play for a throw-in.
Six minutes later he was fed out on the right with acres of space by Saikou Janneh and he made a rare venture towards the opposition goal. However, he had a moment's hesitation appearing to get caught in two minds between unleashing a strike and playing it to his teammate.
He went eventually went for the simple pass to his right but the ball was behind Dylan Khadji and Watford were allowed to mop up the danger. There was another moment when he got forward five minutes before the half-time whistle, doing well to cut inside but over-hitting his pass for the second time in the half.
Bell's warm-up on the field, while the rest of his teammates were in the dressing room at half-time, was the evidence needed that the club weren't willing to risk giving Tanner any more minutes than he needs and he failed to reappear for the second period.
It was also apparent that the player is still numerous weeks away from making the return to senior football and he will surely be back on the field in the U23's big contest with Ipswich next Tuesday - hopefully with the ambition to increase his minutes to 60.
When asked about Tanner's progress last Thursday, Pearson highlighted his reluctance to "put him in a situation in which he is in danger of reoccurring" his hamstring injury. He added: "He now needs to have a couple weeks of regular, quite intense training to bring him back into contention - I think that's the best way of putting it."
It was no great surprise that City looked more threatening on the attack in the second period following Bell's introduction, playing in a role higher up the field in an attempt to get to the opposition byline as often as possible.
The attacking impetuous paid off when trialist Lucas Vine from Aldershot, playing up front, was tripped from behind in which the referee pointed to the spot before Janneh buried the penalty into the bottom corner.
City couldn't hang on to the three points as Tiago Cukar's free-kick in the 88th minute rippled the back of the net as the two teams shared the spoils.
There were a number of positives in Tanner's performance overall and although it was clear he still needs plenty of match action, the biggest bonus was seeing the player back on the field.
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