📷 | Brian Lenihan in the thick of the action during the opening 15 minutes of tonight's #PDL clash at @northferribyutd pic.twitter.com/XJhTYywDpM

— Hull City Academy (@HullCityAcademy) March 27, 2017

Back in November 2014, Lenihan made his Championship debut on loan at Blackpool and was called up to the Ireland national squad ahead of games against Germany and Gibraltar. But after only one further start with Blackpool, he was on his way back to Hull to rehabilitate a season-ending knee injury.

Further bad luck with injuries meant the versatile right-back had to wait until April 2016 to make his senior debut with Hull.

However, another knee surgery in the weeks after that game saw Lenihan kept off the pitch until last autumn. Then, after a handful of U23 outings, further complications delayed his return by another five months.

With his contract up in June, the 22-year-old will be anxious to give a reminder of that initial promise in an attempt to earn an extension.

The first step of that process came when the ex-Cork City defender lined out with the Hull U23s on Monday, playing the first-half of a game that was eventually abandoned after a mass brawl.

WATCH: Hull and Millwall's brawl causes U23 match abandonment. See here: https://t.co/tBCQxbuG1V pic.twitter.com/QUOtXhyySj

— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) March 28, 2017

“I felt like a kid at Christmas to be back out there,” Lenihan told hullcitytigers.com after Monday night’s game.

“The medical staff here have gone above and beyond for me and I’ve worked so hard to get back from this knee injury which has caused me the most trouble.

“I feel ready now and I feel strong. I just felt so happy to be out on the pitch again.

“It does feel a little bit like deja-vu because I think this is the fourth or fifth time here that this has been my first game back after a long injury, but I know that this time I am right and I need to push on now.

“I felt good out there. I wasn’t in top gear, but I thought I did okay. The plan was always to just play 45 minutes. Tuesday will be a recovery day, although I feel as though I could train as normal with the first team. That is the most positive thing for me, the fact that I feel as though I can train every day whereas before I would just break down. I feel strong and fit now.

“The aim now is to play in every single game that I possibly can to get minutes under my belt and to train hard with the squad every day.

“Obviously things haven’t gone well for me here so far, but I have learnt a lot and it is all part of a football education. It has been a difficult time and I’m lucky to be back. Now there are a lot of people here that I need to repay by getting back out onto the pitch and I feel physically ready to do that.”