MATTHEW ETHERINGTON admits that he feared his season was over when he damaged his right knee in Stoke City's FA Cup clash at Manchester City last month.

The flying winger, who made his comeback in the Potters' Premier League draw at Burnley on Wednesday evening, thought he had suffered a cruciate ligament injury as he was stretchered off in the early stages of the tie at the City of Manchester Stadium.

Etherington was relieved therefore when a scan revealed that the damage was to a medial ligament and was even happier after returning to action within a month.

"When it happened, I thought I had done my cruciate ligaments and that my season was over," confessed the 28-year-old, who was being tipped for an England call-up before the injury setback. "I was over the moon just to hear it was my medial ligaments.

"Sometimes the injury can take a bit longer than this to heal, but I would have taken three-and-a-half weeks when I was being stretchered off at Eastlands.

"It has been a frustrating time because I have missed some big games, but I am just glad to be back. I felt pretty fresh and I haven't lost much fitness, so hopefully I can carry on where I left off."

He added: "Five days to a week after I was injured, I could do runs in a straight line. The only problem was twisting and turning, but I have kept my fitness up.

"The manager hasn't let me off on that one. I have been running most days. I will probably get stronger with games, but I felt pretty good at Burnley."

The former West Ham winger picked up from where he left off prior to his lay-off by putting in an impressive performance on the left hand side of midfield. But while he admits City should have gone on to win the game, he was happy to take home a point.

"In the first half, I thought we were the better team and, after we scored, we looked comfortable," he said. "In the second half, we didn't play as well and were a bit sloppy. We still had some decent chances, but it just never fell for us. It's not a bad point for us though."