Jay Harris reflects on his return to action

Warrington Town midfielder Jay Harris admits he was champing at the bit to return to first team duties after making his comeback in Tuesday night’s Cheshire Senior Cup win at Ashville.

Harris has missed the opening chunk of the 2023/24 campaign due to a groin injury sustained in pre-season, but he played 45 minutes at the Ray Parker Stadium before being withdrawn at half-time.

The game remained goalless at that stage, but Town’s youthful side went on to progress to the quarter-finals of the competition, courtesy of Aaron Bennett’s first goal for the club shortly after the hour mark.

A number of the players selected on Tuesday night came from the Yellows’ league-leading U21s, with members of the Robbie Fowler Academy also taking to the field.

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Reflecting on his return, Harris said: “It was good, a long time coming. It probably came earlier than expected – I’d probably only ran two or three times over the last five months.

“It has felt alright over the last few weeks, so I spoke to the physio and the gaffer and thought, ‘let’s see if I can get 45 minutes’. To get that under my belt pain-free was always the aim, and I got it.

“It’s usually the next day and the reaction of the injury, so it all boils down to that. It will dictate how we move forward, but hopefully everything stays positive.”

Harris has been one of several members of last season’s promotion-winning squad to have suffered injury setbacks early into the season, with captain Josh Amis, defender Evan Gumbs and midfielder Matty McDonald also missing a sizeable portion of the campaign to date.

During his time out of action, the 36-year-old has remained involved with the group and has often been found supporting manager Mark Beesley and trusted assistant Dave Raven on a matchday.

For Harris, it was a case of being a positive influence in any way possible.

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“We’ve been missing key players from the end of last year, and you can see we started well then had a little bit of a blip.

“The lads have done well, and as a whole I’m happy to be back. That doesn’t necessarily mean that everything is going to change, because the lads who have been playing have put in some really good performances.

“I’ve been trying to help from the outside, supporting Bees and Dave Raven around the place.

“I did miss being on the pitch, but over the last few months, I’ve been happy to be involved in whatever capacity I can.”

You can read more from Jay Harris in Saturday’s matchday programme, which will be available to purchase for just £2 at Cantilever Park.

Jay Harris is proudly sponsored by Belleair Contractors (home) and BTG Construction (away).

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