Inamoto ends four-month injury lay-off

Japan midfielder Junichi Inamoto, seen here in 2003, made his first appearance since suffering a broken leg against England in June, with a 45-minute run out as West Bromwich Albion reserves lost 4-1 to Liverpool in Wrexham

Japan midfielder Junichi Inamoto made his first appearance since suffering a broken leg against England in June with a 45-minute run out as West Bromwich Albion reserves lost 4-1 to Liverpool in Wrexham.

Inamoto, 25, has been out of action since suffering the injury in the closing stages of Japan's 1-1 draw with England in Manchester on June 1.

But the former Arsenal star moved closer to securing a permanent contract with Premiership strugglers West Brom by making an impressive return to action before being replaced by substitute Adam Chambers at half-time.

Inamoto said: "There is no problem with the injury, although it still hurts slightly when I play, especially in the reserves where tackles fly in.

"But after 45 minutes, I was not tired and things are going better than expected. But I felt it was the right time to come off."

Premiership newcomers West Brom signed the former Fulham midfielder earlier this season on the proviso that he proves his fitness before the transfer window re-opens in January. Albion will then pay J-League club Gamba Osaka an initial 200,000 dollars to make the transfer permanent.

Having trained only four times since arriving at The Hawthorns in August, Inamoto visibly tired in the later stages of the first-half, but he showed no adverse reaction to his injury, standing up to tough challenges from Liverpool youngsters John Welsh and Neil Mellor.

Japan midfielder Junichi Inamoto, seen here in April 2004, made his first appearance since suffering a broken leg against England in June, with a 45-minute run out as West Bromwich Albion reserves lost 4-1 to Liverpool in Wrexham

And Inamoto was unlucky not to create a goal for Macedonian international Artim Sakiri when he released him in the penalty area early in the first-half. However, Sakiri's close-range strike was well saved by the Liverpool goalkeeper Chris Kirkland.

Despite his return to action, however, Inamoto is unlikely to be in contention for Japan's World Cup qualifier against Oman in Muscat on October 13 with West Brom manager Gary Megson admitting that the player is still some distance from full match fitness.

Megson said: "Junichi has got to get his fitness back. At the moment he is doing well and is a very talented player on the ball. But he has only trained four times with us since he came here and his fitness levels are way

behind all the other players.

"We knew that he was injured when we signed him, so we have to take things very carefully. We do not want to rush him back. We signed him because we thought he would be an asset to the club, but that will have to wait.

"I wanted to keep him playing against Liverpool reserves for as long as his legs would hold up, but he will not be fit for consideration for the Bolton game on Saturday. I am sure he will be able to help us, but he is some way off yet and hopefully when he is fit to play, we will not be in the position that we are currently in in the table."

Rob Elvins opened the scoring for West Brom in the 52nd minute, but Liverpool fought back to win thanks to goals from Darren Potter, Neil Mellor (2) and Robbie Foy.