WITH his budget being squeezed, and extended international windows putting huge pressure on his squad, Glasgow Warriors head coach Danny Wilson will take any little boost he can cling on to at the moment – and the return of winger Lee Jones after 22 frustrating, injury-ravaged months will have felt like a Christmas present come early.

Jones made an impressive comeback with a man-of-the-match performance as Warriors picked up a morale-boosting win away to Cardiff Blues – only their second success of the season – a fortnight ago, and in many respects it will feel to Wilson like he has managed to pick up a new signing at no extra cost.

For Jones, it is as if he has emerged from a long dark tunnel into the light. He admits that as recently as September he wondered whether he would ever play again – and he is now determined to make the most of whatever time he has left in the game.

“Over the course of it all, I think I had five different injuries,” he said. “I had a knee injury initially, which was then followed by four soft tissue injuries – two hamstrings and two calves ¬– all different hamstrings and calves across both legs, so I did the full house.

“They could all have been connected, but they were essentially all different injuries. It was just one thing after another."

When asked if he thought he might have to hang up his boots, he doesn’t hesitate. “If I’m honest, 100 per cent,” he said. “Especially with the last two injuries. I was fit for good periods over lockdown and then I came back and had another wee injury again, so it was a case of getting that out the way and getting fit again. Then, with the hamstring, which was the last one [in September], the first thought in my head was: ‘I don’t know if I’m ever going to play again’.

“So, there was a constant battle with that side of things. But, on the flipside, I was always here [at Scotstoun] training and re-habbing. The aim was always to get back and play. Fortunately, I was able to do that.”

Jones managed 60 minutes against the Blues, then 70 minutes in last weekend’s frustrating home defeat to the Dragons, and is now one of only six players to retain a starting spot for this afternoon’s European Champions Cup campaign opener against last season’s winners Exeter Chiefs.

“It’s good to be back and to play in a couple of games as well,” he says. “It was a funny old couple of years. I was fit for certain periods in between the injuries, but never really warranting selection. I was almost fit at the wrong times.

“To come through that and get back on to the field, I’m just grateful to be back playing rugby, in all honesty.

“It’s not really about making up for lost time. I just think that over the time that I spent out of the game, I gained a real gratitude for playing, so you want to take every opportunity you get. You see it all the time with guys getting injured who don’t get the chance to pull on the jersey.”

Warriors are boosted by the return of eight internationalists but will still be up against it when they take on the predominant force in European rugby at the moment, who are fully loaded for today’s match, with the likes of Stuart Hogg, Jonny Gray and Sam Skinner, as well as a host of English internationalists, in their line-up.

“It’s probably as big a challenge as we’re going to get,” acknowledged Jones. “They’re European champions and, looking at the team they’ve picked, they look very strong, but how else would you want to start your European campaign?

“It’s an opportunity to have a crack. We know them fairly well because we played them last season and also a couple of years prior to that. We’ve got nothing to lose.”

Beyond today, Jones insists that he is not looking too far ahead – but the 32-year-old does not seem to be thinking about throwing the towel in when his contract runs out at the end of this season

“I’m hoping it’s all about miles on the clock,” he says. “I’ve taken those two years out and I’m just going to add them onto the end of my career.

“It’s now about how to manage myself better through training. You get away with it when you’re younger – for large periods of my career I ignored what my body was telling me but now it’s about tuning into that. I feel like I’m on top of that now, and for that last few weeks I’ve felt great on the field. Hopefully that can continue and I can get a wee bit more out of the game.

“I’m feeling good, and over the piece I watched a lot of rugby and a lot of training during the last two years so I feel I know the game better than ever even though I’ve not been on the pitch much. I’m confident in my ability and my experience.”