Harry Kyprianou felt the love from Maidstone fans after making his comeback from a long-term foot injury.

Kyprianou made his first appearance of the season as a late substitute in a 3-0 win over Chippenham at the weekend.

He hadn’t played competitively since last season’s play-off semi-final defeat at Worthing.

The former Southend man replaced Ben Brookes at left-back in the closing minutes on Saturday and was given a great reception by Stones supporters.

“I said to some of the boys it felt like my debut had come again,” said Kyprianou.

“That excitement I felt to be back out there was reminiscent of a debut. It’s been that long since I’ve played.

“Getting back out there, I was quite surprised how much of a warm reception I got from the fans.

“They were incredible and put a big smile on my face.

“I’m super grateful to them for that reception.

“As disappointed as I am with the season personally, I’m sure the club and the fans are frustrated that I haven’t contributed.

“But the fact they still gave me that warm reception, and have shown concern throughout, wishing me well, that was really nice and meant a lot to me.”

Kyprianou initially expected to be out for a few days after feeling pain in his foot during pre-season.

It turned out to be a problematic injury with a torn tendon in the underside of his foot taking a long time to heal.

“It’s probably the worst part of football, having to cope with being injured,” said Kyprianou.

“It’s not something you plan for but it’s part and parcel of the game.

“When injuries come, you handle them as best you can.

“This one hasn’t gone to plan in terms of the rehab, it’s ended up taking the majority of the season, which is very disappointing, but I’ve just tried to keep as upbeat and positive as possible.

“Anything else is kind of a distraction from doing what you need to do to get back fit.

“There’s no point dwelling and feeling sorry for yourself because ultimately that doesn’t rehab the injury, so it’s about trying to keep focused on the process at hand.

“At the point I’d done it, I didn’t expect it to be anywhere near as serious as it’s proved to be.

“It was at the bottom of my foot, not like a knee or an ankle where there are warning sirens going off.

“With your foot, these pains you deal with day to day as a footballer.

“I never thought ‘I’m in trouble’, I kind of thought it would be a few days or a week. But that wasn’t the case.

“The pain was quite severe and it didn’t seem to resolve and time has flown by, not in a good way.

“It’s ended up being a long time, which I’m not too happy about, but it’s one of those things.”

Kyprianou is grateful for the support of everyone at the club during his recovery, from manager George Elokobi and No.2 Craig Fagan to physio Paul Smith.

He added: “I’d like to express my gratitude to the club and the gaffer and his staff across the season.

“As frustrating and disappointed as I’ve been at the season, the club have been very consistent throughout with their support.

“That’s allowed me to focus on the task of getting back playing, so a big thank you to them.”

Maidstone have seven games left in National League South, starting with a trip to Hampton this Saturday (3pm).

They remain seventh, two points clear of Weston in the final play-off position.

Kyprianou hopes to feature as much as possible in the promotion run-in but is taking nothing for granted.

He said: “There’s boys who are there on merit, and a lot of them have been very consistent, so I don’t expect to walk back into the team.

“That being said, I hope I can contribute as much as possible between now and the end of the season.

“I hope I get chances to get back on that pitch and show what I can do. Whether that’s off the bench or starting, or I’m in the stand, I’m just happy to be there with the boys.

“Ideally, I’ll get as many minutes as I can and ultimately help the boys achieve what we set out to do at the start of the season, which was to get promoted.”