Former Celtic flop Marvin Compper admitted he was thrilled to have completed his first competitive game for 505 days as he got off to a winning start with Duisburg in Germany.
The German international was completely frozen out at Parkhead and featured in just one solitary game for the Hoops - a 3-0 Scottish Cup win against Morton in March, last year.
Since then, the 34-year-old hadn't kicked a ball competitively until the weekend when he helped Duisburg to a 4-1 win against Sonnenhof Grossaspach in the opening fixtures of the German Third Division.
And the former RB Leipzig defender admitted it was good to return to playing football.
He said: "It was a nice feeling to be back playing and really, that's exactly why I came to Duisburg.
"I suppose it felt a bit strange at first after all this time out, but it took no time at all to get back into it. I made it clear when I left Celtic my main aim as to play football and that's why I came here. My body is still strong.
"We won 4-1 without ever really playing well to be honest and that's a good thing.
"Now it's just a case of trying to play as many games as I can at this stage of my career."
