Stephen Ward may have only missed two games with the knee injury which forced him to have surgery in the closing weeks of last season.

But it probably felt like something of a comeback when he emerged from the bench with 20 minutes remaining at former club Bohemians on Saturday afternoon.

Ward is one of those who has undergone an intense summer of rehabilitation at the Compton training ground as a result of the operation.

And even though he was slightly behind the fit players when they returned for duty three weeks ago, his excellent recovery skills meant he was available for the cameo in the weekend's first competitive outing of pre-season.

"I really enjoyed it," said Ward, whose cousin Niall Cullen was among the mascots at Dalymount Park, pictured.

"I've probably come back a little earlier than expected as I've only trained one day with the lads.

"I did a bit of football work on Friday and to get 20 minutes in the game was good.

"I felt fit and sharp and really enjoyed getting out there.

"Everyone enjoyed the first taste of football and it's a case of roll on August 14^th and the start of another long campaign.

"We're confident we can do as well as we did last year if not better and hopefully stay in the league again."

And of course there are few places Ward would prefer to have made his comeback given his association with Bohemians, the club which gave him his senior opportunity to pave the way for a move to Wolves three-and-a-half years ago.

"It's always nice to come back here where I had some great years in the early part of my career and the fans and all the staff were always really good to me," the left back added.

"The team has changed here quite a bit but there are a lot of people I still know so it's good to catch up with some familiar faces.