Stoke City captain Ryan Shawcross was relieved to get through a full match on the weekend.
The Potters centre-half played 90 minutes of his side's 1-0 defeat at West Bromwich Albion and despite the result, he was happy to come through unscathed after being sidelined with back problems since the end of January.
"I've only trained for three days so it was always going to be difficult but I wasn't expecting to be so out of breath while we warmed up, and I was blowing a bit during the game," he told the Stoke Sentinel.
"I was pleased to get through the ninety minutes fitness-wise, although I'm obviously disappointed with how the game finished.
"Since Christmas the whole team have been brilliant and we've been playing like side in the top four or five - sometimes you've just got to take defeat on the chin."
