FARSLEY favourite James Knowles continued his comeback from serious injury this week with two games and a goal and he is delighted to be back.

The tackle that broke the former Park Avenue man's tibia and fibula while he was playing for FC United of Manchester was a long time ago and the hours of rehab on the long road to recovery seemed endless – but they are all worth it now he is pulling on a shirt again.

Knowles has returned to Farsley and made three full appearances after first being introduced from the bench. He said: “It was good to get another 90 minutes in and I’m just trying to get back into it really because 15 months is a long time.

“I really missed it so it really is good to be back. I’ve been involved in a couple of challenges and the leg has felt good.

"It feels as strong as it did before. I was a bit concerned at first, competitive action is a lot different to just training, but I feel really confident again now.

“That first fear has gone and I won’t have to think twice about going in for a 50/50 challenge or making a strong tackle.”

Knowles was a fans’ favourite at Throstle Nest in his first spell with Farsley, playing either in central midfield or centre back alongside Amjad Iqbal, another player the Celts supporters still idolise.

He moved on to Avenue – he captained the side and scored 18 goals in just under 200 appearances – and then FC United, where he linked up again with Tom Greaves. However, the horrendous double break was soon to punctuate his playing career.

His comeback was interrupted by setbacks, with Knowles explaining: “I had a few complications after the first operation but carried on and then, after 14 weeks, they found out they had set the bone wrongly.

“There was a gap between the break and it wasn’t healing properly so they had to do it all again. Around last November or December I was back training, on my own at first and then joining in with the lads.

“But I was having a lot of pain in my knee and they found that one of the screws in the bone was rubbing on a hamstring and it was causing the pain. They took that out in February and as soon as it was done I was back in proper training.

“Now I’m back playing and I want to carry on as long as I can.”