IN TERMS of timing, with Newcastle United climbing up to fourth in the Premier League, DeAndre Yedlin couldn’t have made a sweeter comeback from injury – and he knows it.

The American defender was back in the Magpies team against Stoke City on Saturday for the first time since pre-season and he helped secure a hard-earned 2-1 victory.

It was a the third win in a row for Newcastle, helping to ease the frustrations that has built up following a low-key transfer window and two opening defeats back in the Premier League to Tottenham and Huddersfield.

Since then, apart from the extra-time defeat to Nottingham Forest in the EFL Cup, things have been looking up as Rafael Benitez’s quality as a coach has shown through despite missing out on a number of targets he wanted in during the summer.

Yedlin hasn’t been focusing on that. He has wanted to regain full fitness from the hamstring problem he picked up at Mainz during the friendly and it took him until last weekend to make his comeback.

The 24-year-old said: “It was great. Obviously, coming back from a hamstring injury isn't easy, because you have to take them pretty slow and be pretty careful with them, especially when you're the type of player I am.

“It's one of my necessities to make sure I have my leg muscles as close to 100 per cent as they can be. It was great to be back and great to come back on a win. I thought the team played pretty well.

“Obviously, there were a couple of moments where we slipped up a bit, but I thought, for the most part, that we dominated the game and played very well.

“I just tried to feed off the other players who have been doing it for the last four games. I tried to work myself into the game and not do anything too crazy, just keep it simple, and make it to half-time. I was feeling all right. It was good to get the full 90. It was good for myself to have the confidence to go 90.”

Yedlin was actually given the nod ahead of Javier Manquillo, who had started brightly after moving in the summer. Having the two options, though, has given Benitez a much-needed alternative and the former Tottenham full-back is pleased to be back.

He said: "I'd actually been injured in the very beginning of pre-season. I came back for a bit, probably about ten days, and then I did it again.

“That's why it's been a pretty long process getting back. It's my second hamstring injury. We wanted to make sure it was 110 per cent before I came back, so it didn't reoccur.

"It’s nice to be back and we are doing well. We need to take it one game at a time. We have a lot of games to play. The season doesn't end now, so we need to keep going and take it one game at a time and stay prepared, focused.”