Wolves keeper Matt Murray today reassured the Molineux masses his early withdrawal was purely precautionary after lasting just 23 minutes of his comeback.

Murray came off in last night’s 2-0 win over Birmingham reserves at the New Bucks Head midway through the first half after having treatment to his right knee, after almost a year out with a ruptured patella tendon.

But the 28-year-old, who hasn’t played for Wolves’ first team for two and a half years, stressed there is no need to panic.

The one-time England hopeful remained in the dugout for the rest of the first half before walking to the dressing rooms at half time, and says minor setbacks are to be expected along the way.

“It’s frustrating because I wanted to play on, particularly because there were people here – but it’s better to be safe,” said Murray, who was replaced by academy youngster Dan East.

“The most important thing is completing my recovery – this was just another step on my rehabilitation and when you’ve been out for so long then these things can happen.

“I’ve been training well for the last three or four weeks and I’ve done my first warm-up for a game for a long time and that felt good.

“I just felt a little bit of discomfort in the early stages and the medical team felt there was no point in trying to carry on, play the 90 minutes and take any risks,” he said.

“It’s better to take the precaution, see how things settle down and then carry on my rehab.”

Murray’s last competitive game came on loan at Hereford on November 25 last year when he suffered his latest injury.

Wolves won the game 2-0 with goals from George Elokobi – playing centre-back – and Greg Halford.