Wolves utility man Stephen Ward breezed through his comeback last night, but admitted Sunday’s clash against Birmingham may come too soon for him.

Ward played the first 63 minutes of the reserves’ 2-0 defeat against Fulham at Molineux before coming off in his first outing since undergoing cartilage surgery at the end of August.

And, although he reported no reaction from his knee, the popular Dubliner, who played left midfield, cautioned against an immediate return to senior action after two- and-a-half months out.

“My knee felt fine and good,” said Ward, whose next appearance will be his 100th for Wolves. “You’d have to ask the gaffer about Sunday – it may be too early.

“I feel I’m fit but there’s no substitute for games and getting 60 minutes under my belt will be good. Although the result didn’t go our way it was good for me to get out there and get that in the bank.

“It was a case of feeling my way back into the game and I didn’t want to go full pelt, but everything I did felt fine. It’s another step to getting back. It’s been fine since I came back into training.

“I’ve had a couple of little niggles, but I’ve felt fit and probably a lot fitter than I thought I’d be, to be honest. It’ll be just playing it by ear now. We’ll see how it reacts today – hopefully it will be fine and I’ll come back in Thursday and carry on training.”