Wanderers centre-back Anthony Stewart is happy to be back playing after spending three months out with a knee injury.

The 23-year-old made his first appearance since suffering the injury against Fulham in the Capital One Cup at the start of August in the 2-0 friendly defeat against Leeds United on Friday.

He played the full 90 minutes and considering he was not originally expected to return until at least Christmas he was rightfully elated to have got back to playing.

“It is fantastic to be back playing, definitely. It is a long time since I have been on the pitch and credit has to go to the staff and physio for getting me back before schedule,” he said.

“It was a bit of a shock to the system, but I feel alright and am pleased to have played the whole 90 minutes and I am just making sure that I get back into good habits really.”

Stewart appeared remarkably fresh considering his injury troubles this campaign have continued on from a disrupted 2014-15 season.

He has dealt with the injury in a positive way and while he accepts it has been tough being out he feels that there was little choice but to get on with his rehab and try to return as quickly as possible.

He said: “It was tough to get the injury so early in the season, especially carrying on from last season where I was not playing much.

“To get injured again was difficult, but in life these things happen and you just have to get on with it and try to recover.”

During Stewart’s time out Blues manager Gareth Ainsworth has called in the services of Southampton loanee Jason McCarthy who has developed a strong partnership with Aaron Pierre in defence.

Stewart will have to dislodge one of the pair if he wants to be a regular starter but he is content with the competition for places and has been impressed by the Wycombe defence in his absence.

He said: “The boys have been doing well since I have been out and it has been a long while that they have done well without me.

“I am looking forward to trying to get back in the side and we just have to keep going, and keep pushing and working together.”

Despite the fact the game against Leeds was a friendly the Championship opposition meant that it was a testing environment for Stewart to return to and he coped admirably.

He enjoyed testing himself against opposition from a higher league and claims seeing how he measured up against attackers who ply their trade in the Championship was beneficial.

“It is always great to play against Championship opposition and they are supposed to be the better team so it is great to set yourself challenges and compete against them,” Stewart explained.

“It gives you an indication of where you want to be as a player and it is always good to see how far away you are from their level. Playing against better players is a good way of improving as well.”