George Edmundson's "courage" has been praised by Wayne Rooney after he made a swift return with Derby County.
The on-loan Rangers defender came on as a substitute against Preston on Tuesday night - just 11 days after going under the knife for a hernia op.
He'd been given a three-week return timeline by the Championship club's medical staff but slashed it in half when he played nearly an hour during the 3-0 defeat in Lancashire.
Edmundson made his move south after he and Ibrox team-mate Jordan Jones were handed seven-match bans for their part in a Covid breach in November.
But he earned high praise from Manchester United and England legend Rooney after making his eighth appearance for the Rams, who are battling relegation to League One.
The Pride Park boss said: "George had been in the treatment room this week and insisted he was ready to go on the bench if we needed him for the last 10 minutes.
"When a player wants to play, and given where we are in the table, wants to show that courage to play, I had no issue in putting him on the bench.
"He played longer than we expected, but he has come through really well and he will be available for Saturday."
