February 10 2014

Glenn Murray (Photo: Andy Roberts)

Glenn Murray admits he's still a while off a starting appearance for Crystal Palace.

The goal machine was introduced off the bench against West Bromwich Albion on Saturday for the first time since last May when he broke down with a knee ligament injury.

His long-awaited appearance brought a standing ovation at Selhurst Park and last season's top scorer says he cannot wait to get back to full fitness and help the Eagles in their relegation battle.

He said: "I have got to work on my fitness still to get to that level of the Premier League. There were no butterflies or nerves, it was just a bit strange being back and getting into the swing of things after having nine months out.

"After five to ten minutes I settled into it and started enjoying it. The injury wasn’t in the back of my mind. I had done numerous tests on the training field and obviously you can never replicate a game of that speed, but I had 100 per cent confidence in my knee.

"It was one of those injuries where you know it’s going to be a certain amount of time and you get your head around it. You just have to stay positive as much as possible to get back on the comeback trail.

"It was all down to the knee really. As soon as that was ready, I was ready. I have just been trying to strengthen that as much as possible, and luckily on Saturday I managed to get out there.

"It was nice to help the boys as well in our quest to stay up. It would have been nice (to score) but it wasn’t to be. The main thing is we won the game, and you’ve seen how tight the league is, it was a huge three points.

"It was brilliant to get back out there. It had been a really long time and there’s been a lot of hard work but it was a great reception from the fans. It was really nice and I’d like to thank them all for that."