Nearly five months after undergoing a broken right leg, Matías Kranevitter has set foot back on the pitch: the midfielder started in the 3-0 win between River Reserve and Talleres in River camp for the 16th round of the Screening Tournament.

With the number five shirt and the captain’s armband, The 29-year-old from Tucuman played the first half (He was replaced at half-time by Sebastián Sánchez) for Marcelo Escudero’s side, who are third in the Reserve competition, and thus added his first 45 minutes of activity. He had been on the Primera substitute bench in the Superclásico against Boca at the Monumental on Sunday, but had not made a substitute.

The midfielder had been one of River’s first reinforcements in the cycle Martin Demichelisbut in his first match, a friendly that the millionaire drew 0-0 with Unión La Calera from Chile on December 22 at Villa Mercedes (San Luis), he suffered a fractured right fibula, with ligament impairment, after a harsh lack of Cesare Perez.

“I’m the one who wants to go back to playing the most. People always support me and this day by day is very important”, Kranevitter said on Friday, is an interview published by the Télam agency. “Physically I feel good and slowly I will definitely get my rhythm back, since I started training with the team not too long ago. After being unemployed for so long it’s difficult to come back and above all recover with your teammates, you have to make a lot of effort to be up to it ”, he added.

This was not the first serious injury suffered by the former Atlético de Madrid, Sevilla, Zenit and Monterrey player. In September 2014, during his first spell at River, he suffered a fractured fifth metatarsal in his right foot during a match against Independiente. This forced him to undergo surgery and prevented him from playing until the following year.

Participation in the Reserve match this Saturday brings Tucuman closer to wearing the River shirt again in an official Primera match. The last time he did so was on 20 December 2015, when Marcelo Gallardo’s side lost 3-0 to Barcelona in the final of the Club World Cup in Yokohama.