Ricardo Pereira made his long-awaited comeback in competitive senior football on Thursday evening in Leicester City’s Europa League match with Zorya in Ukraine.
The Seleção right-back had been out of action for 270 days since suffering an anterior cruciate ligament injury in March, but Pereira played the first half before being replaced as the Foxes, who were already qualified from Group G, went down 1-0 at the Slavutych-Arena.
“It was too many days, it was hard times,” said the former Porto man. “But I’m very happy to be here and play with the guys again and I hope I can keep going and keep improving.
“I think it was a hard defeat because I think we had chances to score.
“We were on top of the game when they scored, and it’s difficult for us to take the loss. I think we didn’t deserve it, but we have to learn from it and do better the next time.
“But you have to learn from it and take some positives from the game. We are in a better position in this case than SC Braga, so it’s a positive.
“We have a game at home (vs. AEK Athens on Thursday) that we have to win to assure the first place in the group.”
Pereira has been an unequivocal success in English football, earning himself the Leicester City Fans’ Player of the Year and Players’ Player of the Year during his debut campaign, and being widely regarded as one of the best-performing full-backs in the Premier League since his arrival.
By Sean Gillen
