DARRAGH Lenihan feels he has overcome the final hurdle in his recovery from a long-term ankle injury with 90 minutes for the Under-23s on Friday.

The Irishman has been unavailable since suffering a fractured metatarsal on the opening day and underwent surgery in September. Since then the 23-year-old has battled back to fitness and has played twice for Damien Johnson’s Under-23s side.

That included 90 minutes in the win over Reading, with Lenihan now set to push for first-team involvement.

“It felt very good, the win made it better, but coming back after five or six months it was frustrating but I really enjoyed it,” he told the Lancashire Telegraph.

“To get through it pain free was the main thing and that was a plus for me.

“It’s felt good, I haven’t felt any pains or twinges, I feel fit so I’m ready to play.

“The plan was to play 90 minutes and then move on to the first-team.

“This was my final hurdle, getting 60 minutes at Fulham and then 90 minutes against Reading.

“I have come through those and hopefully I can get back in with the lads.”

Lenihan hopes to be involved when Rovers travel to Portsmouth on Tuesday as he looks to play a part in the remaining 15 games of the season.

The injury has been frustrating for the central defender, with the full extent of his injury not known until almost a month after sustaining it on the opening day.

He added: “I knew there was something wrong but I never really got to the bottom of it.

“I tried to come back from it which probably made it worse so I had it re-scanned and the surgeon said to me I should have the surgery and hopefully I’m now back.

“I haven’t been rushed back. And to be fair the lads have been doing well, it’s not as if he has been screaming at me to come back so they haven’t really needed me.

“I’m back now, another option for the manager and hopefully we can keep going between now and the end of the season.”

Lenihan’s return is a timely boost for boss Tony Mowbray ahead of the run-in, with Marcus Antonsson and Ben Gladwin also nearing full fitness.

“Our aim as everyone knows is to go straight up,” he said.

“It’s going to be a difficult end to the season because the teams around us are doing well but we feel with the squad of players we’ve got we’re more than capable of doing that.”