EXETER City fans have waited a long time to see Pat Jones in action, but those that attended Wednesday’s 3-1 Under-21 Premier League Cup win over Bromley got their first glimpse of the winger when he pulled on a red and white shirt for the first time.

It has been a frustrating time for the 21-year-old since signing for an undisclosed fee from League One rivals Huddersfield Town on transfer deadline day as within days - and before he had even featured for City - he picked up a serious hamstring injury.

So severe was that injury that Jones needed an operation, but with his rehabilitation done, the Wales Under-21 international is now back in training and looking to make his long-awaited debut for the first team over the festive period.

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“I really enjoyed it. It was a good little run out, a good half an hour and it went as planned really,” Jones said of his comeback. “I thought I showed some good little moments and stuff.

“It wasn’t a great start to my career here, but I enjoyed being back out there. It was good. It was nice to play at the stadium as well.”

Jones has struggled with persistent hamstring issues ever since making his debut for the Terriers in 2020 and are the reason why he was limited to just 18 appearances for the Yorkshire club. No sooner had he joined Exeter than the injury curse struck again but the hope is that y operating on them, it will both resolve the issue and prolong his football career.

“It’s been tough,” Jones said. “It happened about a week after coming in here, which wasn’t ideal really and then I had to have surgery.

“The first few weeks were quite hard and then once I got going, got back out on the grass, the medical team were really good to be fair. Once I got out on the grass, it progressed pretty quickly and it has gone quite smoothly so far.

“I am on track with where I should be and hopefully, over the coming weeks, I will up my minutes and get towards playing first team football.

“I have settled in well and the club have been really good to me as well. Even though I haven’t been playing, all the lads have welcomed me in and got round me after I got injured and I have really enjoyed being here.

“The club have been really good with me since I have been here.”

Jones showed plenty of promise in that 30-minute cameo against Bromley before he was replaced – as planned – by Max Edgecombe. The Grecians won the game with two goals from Amani Richards, the on-loan Leicester City forward, and Sonny Cox.

The victory means the Grecians have won five from five in the competition and are assured of finishing top of their group ahead of their final group game with Bristol City in the New Year. Then it’s into the knock-out stages.

“It was good and we started really well,” Jones said. “We were all over them really, but then they gained a bit more control towards the end of that first half, but we probably should have scored a few more in that first half.

“We got in behind them quite a few times, but we started off well and we finished the game well as well.

“At half-time, the message was just to go and win the game, sort of thing. Show a little bit more and win the game. We knew we should have been winning the game at that time and the message was as simple as that really: just go and win the game and the lads did that.

“I thought we had a really good go in the second half and there was only really one team attacking. It could have been a few more, but we finished the game really well.

“It is testament to the club and the youth set up that we finished top of the group in what is quite a prestigious youth competition. It’s a really good time for everyone at the club.”

City’s final group game against the Robins is at St James Park on Monday, February 3 with a 7pm kick-off.