Benarous hits the comeback trail in under-21s game

BRISTOL City playmaker Ayman Benarous has taken a positive step in his injury recovery after completing 45 minutes for the Under21s in their 0-0 draw at Coventry City in the Professional Development League 2.

Benarous hadn’t played since August after suffering a hamstring injury during his comeback from successive ACL injuries, which have kept him out of first-team action for the last two years.

The 20-year-old successfully played the first-half at the Coventry Building Society Arena before he was replaced by Charlie Filer at half-time. The points were shared as Kai Churchley saw a late penalty attempt saved by Sky Blues goalkeeper Luke Bell to leave City eighth in the southern section of the division.

The U21s next fixture is a week on Tuesday at home to Fleetwood Town, which could also include Benarous, pictured, as the Bristolian steadily builds up his minutes in the hope he could be available for the senior squad before the end of the 2023-24 campaign.

Benarous has been in training with the first-team for several weeks under Liam Manning but City have had to be careful introducing him back into the fold given the extent of the injury problems he’s suffered over the last two years.

Benarous tore his ACL in May 2022 while training, having made 12 appearances in what appeared to be his breakthrough season for the club after long being considered one of the academy’s leading talents.

As he edged close to a comeback in December that year he then sustained a second ACL at the High Performance Centre which kept him out for a further six months before he returned for preseason last summer.

Having again worked his way back to fitness and after playing for the U21s in August against South African side Supersport United in a behind-closed-doors friendly, he experienced another setback, this time around his hamstring, which moved his timeline into 2024.

Speaking about Benarous earlier this month, Robins head coach Liam Manning said: “He has had a tough, long period out and I’ve been really impressed. He’s trained with us now for a few weeks and we’re going to look to get him involved in an U21s game soon.

“In terms of how he’s done in training, he’s made a really positive impression and I’m looking forward to seeing how he comes back.

“I think with the duration he’s been out you don’t want to force it or rush it and set him back. You do have to be careful so we’ll look to increase his workload in the U21s and in training and see how he responds.”