Manchester City striker Valeri Bojinov returned to the pitch with the reserves on Tuesday night after close to a six-month lay-off.

The Bulgaria international injured his Achilles in the warm-up for the English Premier League season opener against Aston Villa in August but looks set to finally return to the first team.

Bojinov played just over an hour of City's reserves defeat to Hull City and may be used by manager Mark Hughes in the coming weeks.