Mohammed Kudus returns to Ajax bench in PSV triumph

Ghana midfielder Mohammed Kudus returned to the Ajax matchday squad for the first time in one month as the club faced PSV in the Dutch Cup on Wednesday.

The attacker was an unused substitute as The Lancers registered a 2-1 win at Johan Cruijff Arena to progress to the semi-finals of the cup competition.

Despite not taking to the pitch, his bench role is a significant step on his way to returning to match action.

Interestingly, his last appearance came against PSV in the Dutch Eredivisie exactly a month ago.

Kudus has been in and out of action since sustaining a meniscus injury while in Champions League action against Liverpool in October last year.

Expected out of action for "many months" according to his club, the 20-year-old made a return to training in December.

After a few weeks of training, he returned to action as a second-half substitute in the league fixture against PSV.

He, however, suffered a setback in the brief appearance, forcing him back into the treatment room.

“I know how complex this injury can be. He’s back on the pitch again but he had a setback,” Ajax coach Erik ten Hag recently said, according to Ghana Web.

“Now he’s taking part in certain group activities during training. We are being careful with him and taking it step by step.”

In Kudus' absence, Ajax suffered first-round elimination from the Champions League.

"If everything had gone well, we could have qualified for the knockout phase. That was just not our expectations. We've lost core players for seven years in two years," ten Hag said, as reported by AD in December.

"The reality is that we don't have a Champions League side at the moment. We have to build on that again.

"Players like [David] Neres and Kudus, like [Ryan] Gravenberch, could have made a great move in their development had they been fit. Then it might have been possible [to qualify to the knockout stage]."

Ajax signed Kudus from Danish fold Nordsjaelland in July last year. He has so far made five appearances in all competitions for The Lancers.