The return of Vladimír Coufal was the one bright light in an otherwise bad day at the office against Brentford at the weekend.

Coufal has been absent for some weeks after undergoing surgery on a hernia issue, and it’s one the Czech international is delighted to see the back of.

“It was unpleasant and I was worse than a small kid,” said Coufal. “So big thanks to all the staff who looked after me and now I feel really good and confident, but I had in my mind a better return with a win, but unfortunately that’s football.

“When we decided to have the surgery, the plan was to come back as soon as possible.

“Professor [Ernest] Schilders, who did the surgery, did a really good job, and he said after six weeks that I could rejoin the team, but after five weeks I was ready to play.

“I was on the bench against Everton, against Lyon, and now finally, today, I came back to the pitch, so I’m really grateful.

“It was planned I would be ready after the international break and still we have a very important part of the season to go, so we’ll keep going.”

Our Irons head into a crucial and historic encounter against Lyon on Thursday night, and despite the poor result against Brentford, Coufal has said the players are fully focused on getting a result.

“The guys did an unbelievable job against Lyon,” added Coufal. “That’s why we can still go through to the semi-finals of the Europa League.

“Now, it’s a big game ahead of us on Thursday, so we need to do a very good recovery after today, and just look ahead.”