Monday 10 April 2017 22:24, UK
Goalkeeper Jack Butland completed 90 minutes as Stoke U23s were beaten 2-0 by Brighton at the Amex on Monday night.
The 24-year-old suffered a stress fracture while playing for England in a friendly against Germany in March last year, and his only outings for Stoke's senior team since then came during pre-season friendlies back in the summer.
Setbacks in August and December have prolonged his absence, but Butland was able to return to full training two weeks ago.
And he was back in action on Monday, making several smart saves before Brighton scored twice in the final six minutes to secure victory.
Butland tweeted after the match: "Full 90 minutes with no issues and felt really comfortable being back out
there! So happy to be back on the pitch again."
Having suffered the initial injury in Germany, Butland was scheduled to return at the start of this campaign, only for his first setback to occur on the eve of the current Premier League season.
A further operation kept him out until December, when he was lined up for the development squad's game against Reading, which he pulled out of after feeling pain in his ankle during the warm-up.
