TYLER Weir says his two-month injury lay-off for Worcester City felt more like a year.

The left-back made a welcome return to the team as a substitute for the last 13 minutes of Saturday’s 2-0 Conference North defeat to Barrow.

Having missed just one game prior to breaking a metatarsal in the 1-0 home loss against Bradford Park Avenue on January 11 — almost exactly two years after losing some teeth in a fall outside a gym — being forced onto the sidelines was a culture shock for Weir.

He has been restricted to fitness work and his brief cameo against the Bluebirds was the first time he had been able to test the foot in a physical environment due to missing last Thursday’s training session because he was moving house.

Now, Weir is keen to prove his fitness to manager Carl Heeley and earn a place back in the starting line-up for Saturday’s trip to Boston United.

He said: “I have been out for 10 weeks and it’s gone really slowly. It feels like I have been out for a year with not training and not being able to do anything.

“The first six weeks were a nightmare because I was on crutches and couldn’t walk. But it’s ok now and I am back at work so there’s no more sitting around being bored.

“I have done fitness work so that has been keeping me ticking over but it’s not the same as a game and 15 minutes was enough on Saturday.”

Weir continued: “It’s the second injury I have had in my career and the day I did it was almost two years to the day when I damaged my teeth.

“But this is the longest I have been ruled out and it’s not been a good feeling.

“Going to games, you want to be part of the team on the pitch and it’s hard not doing that. I want to get back fit and play as much as I can.

“I will see how training goes this week and if it all goes well, hopefully, I will be in contention to start on Saturday.”

Weir being available is a major boost for City, not least because the 24-year-old is one of the team’s most influential figures.

But Worcester are also not blessed with options at left-back. With Shabir Khan still having two games of his ban left to run and Danny Jackman out with an ankle injury, centre-half Anthony Charles started the Barrow match in the role.

They do have Jonathan Lynch, who is on loan from Southport until the end of the season, but he was omitted against the Cumbrians after enduring a torrid time in the 4-0 defeat against Fylde.

Weir said: “Coming on against Barrow was good for me but good for the team as well because we want to get in the play-offs.”