Leeds United midfielder Ilia Gruev has admitted that he himself was “surprised” at how quickly he managed to recover from knee surgery, given he was back on the pitch just three months later.

The Bulgarian damaged the meniscus in his knee just 20 minutes into October’s 1-1 draw at Norwich City. He was required to have an operation on his injury, which left him on crutches.

Gruev made an astonishingly quick return and was able to earn his first appearance since his setback against Harrogate Town in the FA Cup earlier this month. “I’m really good, it’s a really nice feeling to be back on the pitch,” said Gruev in an interview with club media.

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“I missed this very much and now to be back with the group, back with the team, everything is much more enjoyable. I really enjoy being back and being able to help the team.”

Gruev poetically completed 35 minutes - his longest stint since recovering from injury - in Wednesday’s 2-0 win over Norwich, the team he suffered the injury against, at Elland Road. Speaking ahead of the game in the matchday programme, the 24-year-old confessed he did not expect to be back on the pitch so soon.

United ace Gruev said: “I was a little bit surprised because I expected the best outcome would be 12 or 13 weeks. This would be the best thing, and we did just that! Just 13 weeks was the whole rehab so it was really a good outcome.

“Of course I tried everything in terms of sleep, nutrition and everything that I could do. It’s really nice that I’m so quickly back, but not only to be back, also to have a good feeling and to feel really good in myself again.”

Gruev said his period of rehabilitation was tough but accepted that setbacks are part of football. He added: “The first moment they told me how long I’m going to be out, it was a big shock - a very big shock because I didn’t think it was going to be that long. Then I was told I have to have surgery and be on crutches and everything.

“This was very tough for me, Sadly, it’s a part of the business. It’s a part of football and it can happen to anybody. But it’s the first time in my life that it happened to me.

“Still, it was only three months, but it was tough. Also, during the rehab, when you do always a lot of the same stuff, it was hard. But you know what you are doing this and you have to be disciplined and you have to stay as positive as you can.”