LUKAS Jutkiewicz made his comeback from injury with a 45 minute run out for Burnley's development squad in a friendly against Liverpool today.

The 27-year-old played the first half against a strong Reds side, his first action suffering a cruciate knee ligament injury in the Clarets 2-1 win at Bristol City in the Championship at the end of August.

"It’s a great feeling to be back on the pitch," said the former Bolton striker.

"You can do all the training in the world on your fitness, but there’s nothing quite like getting back on the pitch and playing a game.

"Liverpool had some quality players out there and chances were limited, but it was a great fitness exercise for me to try and get some match sharpness back and I enjoyed it.

"It has been a frustrating few months, which I knew it would be as it’s a bad injury which takes time to recover from.

"It’s also an injury that takes a lot out of you, but playing today is a big step forward in my road to recovery and I’m pleased to get through it."

Former Burnley striker Danny Ings, who suffered a similar injury in October after signing for Liverpool in the summer, was an interested observer at Melwood.

"We both went to see the specialist at the same time, and I think Danny’s operation was six weeks after mine," said Jutkiewicz.

"We have been in contact with each other throughout to see how we are going on, but it was great to catch up and hopefully we’ll see him back on the pitch soon also."

Jutkiewicz is set to feature again for Burnley's development squad when they host Port Vale on Tuesday.

"Tuesday is another great opportunity to get some match sharpness and I’m looking forward to hopefully getting more minutes under my belt and get that little bit closer to being available for selection," he said.

"I’m just taking it one game at a time really. It’s an old cliché but it’s important to make sure my comeback is not rushed.

"The staff have done their due diligence throughout my rehabilitation and I’m nearly there now so there’s no point in rushing me back now."