Victor Fernandez was thrilled to feature for Newcastle United U23s in their friendly defeat of Rotherham.
The Spanish forward suffered a heel injury in August 2018 before picking up a hip problem which resulted in the 21-year-old missing the rest of the 2018/19 season.
However, Fernández - who joined United's Academy from UE Cornellà in 2017 - played his first 45 minutes in 11 months at Rotherham's Roundwood Sports Complex, with goals from Rosaire Longelo and Oisín McEntee securing the pre-season win in South Yorkshire.
Fernández told nufc.co.uk: "I was pleased with the overall performance today. We are near to the start of the season now and I feel it is good to gain as much confidence as possible from winning games.
"I'm also quite happy personally because I haven't played for nearly a year now. That feels great because last year was terrible for me as I wasn't able to play any games. It was a great feeling to be back on the pitch.
"Gaining a clean sheet and getting into the good habit of not conceding goals so that is good preparation for the season."