As comebacks go, Freddie Sears’ return to action last weekend takes some beating.

Sears had endured a torrid previous 10 weeks, ever since tweaking his hamstring in the 2-2 draw at Shrewsbury on October 22.

The Colchester United marksman had tried, and failed, to stage a swift comeback just a month later when suffering a recurrence of the hamstring injury inside the first quarter of the game at Preston, in a 1-1 draw.

It was back to the drawing board, and treatment table, for a demoralised Sears, but last Saturday he enjoyed a cameo role on his second comeback attempt, coming up trumps with the third goal in a 3-0 win over Gillingham.

The 24-year-old had only appeared as an 88th minute substitute, for the inspirational Sanchez Watt, but he still found time to slam home his fifth goal of the campaign with a deadly shot in the last minute of injury time.

“It was a great feeling,” enthused Sears.

“The main thing was the win. The game was already over, but luckily I got on for the last few minutes, their defence was tired, I had a shot and it went in.

“It was a bit up and down, whether I was coming on. One minute I was, the next I wasn’t. I was kind of kept waiting.

“But we had the 2-0 lead, which was a good position to be in, at which point I was expecting to come on.

“We had to see the game out, but there was no real pressure on me. We didn’t want to let them score, so I had to back-track and do my bit for the team.

“For my goal, I just cut inside the defender and as soon as I shot, I knew it was going in, even though it went in off the post.

“It was a great feeling, on my first game back. It was a big bonus, with not many minutes and yet another goal.”

Despite moving level with Jabo Ibehre as the club’s joint highest league scorer – with five goals – Sears knows that he faces a fight on his hands to break back into the starting line-up, beginning with this Saturday’s long trip to Carlisle.

“The boys have been doing well, so it’s going to be hard to get back into the team,” confirmed Sears.