Tuesday 11 April 2017 14:32, UK
Stoke City goalkeeper Jack Butland is ready for a return to Premier League action after playing 90 minutes for the first time this season.
Butland came through the full 90 minutes with the Stoke Under-23's on Monday in their 2-0 defeat to Brighton at the Amex, on his return from an ankle injury after 13 months out.
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 after Monday night's action declared himself ready to make his Premier League return.
"A long time [waiting]," Butland told Sky Sports News HQ. "Since pre-season, obviously I recovered from the first operation, which then later set me back but I was playing in pre-season. It's eight months since my last game, so pretty pleased.
"Just relief, dead pleased and happy to be back there. It's where I want to be, it's where I'm happiest.
"I always play with a smile on my face, I play better like that than being super on it and focused, I like a little bit of a smile and a swagger, but I was probably a little bit more than that last night and had a grin on my face for 90 minutes."
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.
As such, the four-cap England international has called the season his toughest yet.
"Yeah by far [hardest year of his career]. I think recovering from the first operation wasn't that bad, it was the feeling like I was back and then the day before the first game of the season it all kind of going pear shaped," Butland added.
"And that three months leading into the last operation was tough, it was back and forth to specialists, radiologists, trying to get it right and put a finger on what it was and how to deal with it. That was the hardest part.
"December onwards has been pretty smooth, all plain sailing. It's all gone to plan as we would have hoped.
"Since the last operation I knew what I needed to do and it's not been full steam ahead but it's gone as we would have expected and I'm finally back where I wanted to be."
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