Manchester United striker Alan Smith returned to the public arena at Preston tonight, exactly 184 days since suffering his horrific double leg break in the FA Cup defeat to Liverpool.
Smith appeared to come through his first official reserve team outing unscathed, lasting 66 minutes of the 7-2 Lancashire Senior Cup win at Deepdale.
While the England international did look some way short of match fitness, with Wayne Rooney suspended for United's next three games, he could have an outside chance of muscling his way onto the bench for Saturday's Barclays Premiership encounter with Watford.
Far more likely though, is a couple more second string appearances for the 25-year-old during the forthcoming international break before a possible appearance against Tottenham on September 9.
Although Smith did feature in a closed-doors game against Royal Antwerp last week, tonight's outing was another significant step in his recovery from the appalling injury he suffered at Anfield in February.
Starting up front alongside rising star Giuseppe Rossi, the former Leeds player displayed all his usual strength and aggression.
With no replacement in sight for Ruud van Nistelrooy, Sir Alex Ferguson has already declared his intention to utilise Smith as an orthodox striker this season, ending the single-season experiment as a holding midfielder.
The former Leeds star did show glimpses of his ability, curling an early shot at Preston keeper Andy Lonergan.
Smith also set Rossi up with a decent chance, although he would have been less happy with the shot he screwed wide just past the half hour having been set clear inside the area by Liam Miller and a mis-hit volley which bounced wide after half-time.
He appeared happy enough when he was replaced by Sean Evans midway through the second half.
