IT WAS the one obvious shining light on a gloomy evening for City.

There was precious little to celebrate at Burton - other than sneaking through the backdoor into the Papa Johns Trophy second round courtesy of a helping hand from Hillsborough.

But watching Abo Eisa back on the pitch for the last knockings of the 4-0 loss was a genuine sight for sore eyes.

It was Eisa’s first competitive appearance since a cameo role from the bench on the final day of last season.

Barring 45 minutes against Bradford (Park Avenue) in the first friendly on July 1, the 26-year-old has been stuck on the outside looking in once again.

Now he is trying once more to revive a Bantams career that has been ravaged by hamstring injuries since signing in the summer of 2021.

Tuesday was only the winger’s sixth outing in City colours - a substitute run-out for just under an hour on his debut at Nottingham Forest still remains his longest spell on the field - and Mark Hughes is keeping his fingers crossed that he has finally turned a corner.

“It was brilliant for him,” said the Bantams chief. “He’s obviously not had a great time with us since he’s come to the club and had real setbacks.

“He was absolutely flying in pre-season and we were all looking forward to seeing what he could do in a Bradford shirt.

“But obviously he had a big setback. He’s kept on working hard and got back to a level now that we’re comfortable enough with to introduce him into the team and give him game time.

“Those 15 or so minutes were really important for him and for us.”

Hughes will still apply the handbrake to ensure Eisa does not try to do too much too soon in his eagerness to make up for so much lost time.

“It’s still early days. We’re going to have to build up his minutes and not expose him too readily.

“We can’t just chuck him in for 90 minutes here and there. He’s obviously still working on that match fitness.

“But that was a good start and we’ll try to build on that with him.”