Swansea City Under-21s Arsenal Alex Bray
23rd January
Swansea City winger Alex Bray returned to action with Swansea City Under-21s on Friday afternoon after a 15 month injury lay-off.
The 20-year-old came off the bench to replace Ryan Hedges and played 28 minutes as the development squad drew 0-0 with Arsenal in Premier League Division Two.
Bray has not played since suffering anterior knee ligament damage ten minutes into his Football League debut whilst on loan at League Two side Plymouth in September 2014.
A recurrence of the same injury in March last year left the young Swan working with the club's medical staff for an entire season.
After returning from a second injury following a tough rehabilitation programme and almost a year-and-a-half out of the game, Bray admits he was relieved to make his return to the pitch on Friday.
"I am buzzing, it is good to be back," he said. "It was such a relief to get out on the pitch and play my first league game for the Under-21s in over a year-and-a-half.
"I was not nervous before the game, I have worked hard off the field to get myself fit and ready, and felt I had done as much as I could to prepare but I felt it went really well.
"I did not think about my knee at all, despite two bad injuries I feel I am back to normal.
"I just want to move on from those injuries now, push on and start to play more games this season.
"The plan now is to kick on, get more game time, fight for a starting place in the Under-21s and make 2016 my year."
