Jason Koumas targets 'match-fitness' by end of August
Last updated on .From the section Football
Jason Koumas believes he will be up to speed with League One football by the end of August after playing his first senior game for more than two years.
The Tranmere midfielder, 33, came off the bench for the final 24 minutes of
"I was obviously pleased to get out there," he told BBC Radio Merseyside.
"I just need minutes to get sharpness. I've only been back two-and-a-half weeks and it's hard work, but in two or three weeks I'll feel great again."
Former Wales international Koumas had not played a Football League game since May 2011, during a loan spell at Cardiff City, and was released by Wigan Athletic shortly afterwards.
A two-year exile from the game ended on Thursday when Koumas with Tranmere, the club with which he started his professional career.
"I had the time out, which I enjoyed and I needed, but I always knew I was going to come back here," he continued. "It's just a shame it couldn't have happened two or three weeks earlier.
"When I left, I always said I'd come back. I had plenty of offers, even this summer just gone, but I always said I'd come back here and I wanted to do it when I could still do a job. I didn't want to come here past it and not doing myself justice."
However, the return of Koumas did little to cheer his new manager Ronnie Moore, who was far from pleased with Tranmere's display at the Banks's Stadium as his side began the campaign with a tame defeat.
"I think it's probably the worst performance from a Tranmere Rovers team for a long time, and I'm not just talking about from when I've been here," he said.
"For the first 25 minutes, they were all over the show. It was poor and it was gutless. They've got to roll their sleeves up and start getting some results."
