Buoyant Solskjaer back in action

Solskjaer's career statistics

Manchester United striker Ole Gunnar Solskjaer made his comeback on Monday after 19 months on the sidelines.

The Norwegian, 32, played the first half of the reserve team game against Liverpool at Hyde United's ground.

"It's a great feeling to be playing again after such a long time," he said. "The plan was to play for 45 minutes, but I could have gone on for longer."

Solskjaer only returned to training with the first team last week after prolonged knee surgery.

His last appearance came in May last year when he played six minutes of the FA Cup final victory against Millwall.

Just under 3,000 fans turned out to watch Solskjaer's return.

He had a couple of efforts that were scrambled away and also made one or two good challenges in a display which will have heartened manager Sir Alex Ferguson.

"It is amazing to get so much support," said the Norwegian.

"It's been a long time as well since I've played in front of a crowd and found four or five defenders around me."

He added: "It has been frustrating but I knew I could get back to playing at this level."

Liverpool won 2-0 thanks to goals from Neil Mellor, making his own return after knee surgery, and Ramon Castilla.