Wolves winger Michael Kightly is ready to step up the tempo after emerging unscathed from his comeback.

The wide man had his first taste of action since March 21 last night, as he played the final 26 minutes of the 2-1 friendly defeat at Port Vale.

Kightly now feels he’s ready to play half a game in Saturday’s friendly at Bristol City, after recovering from a broken foot.

The 23-year-old said: “The foot felt really good. The plan was to play half an hour which I virtually got.

“I was blowing a little bit but that was to be expected. Hopefully now I can just progress with more minutes.

“Hopefully I can play more on Saturday. I’ll speak to the gaffer and see what he says. I feel good enough to play a half but we won’t rush it.

“I’ve been training fully and I did most of the training in Australia. I missed a session here and there if it felt tight or stiff, which was wise because there was never any way they were going to throw me back in the deep end.

“That’s the way it will go with how much I play too. Hopefully when the season starts I’ll be ready.”

Nenad Milijas missed last night’s game, to present himself in person to the Serbian authorities as a condition of his work permit.

McCarthy said: “Nenad is just still sorting out his visa – he has to be in the country while it’s being presented and issued to him.

“We’re hoping he’ll be in tomorrow to train.”

Carl Ikeme (back) and Marcus Hahnemann (hip) missed the game with slight injuries as a precaution.

But McCarthy revealed he wants the players to ease off.

He added: “If anything we’ve got to take the foot off the gas, because they’ve worked really hard.

“On Monday morning they were doing 440 metre runs, so they’re all off today just to give them a day off and get refreshed for Saturday.”