Essendon defender Marty Gleeson is pleased to be back playing football after almost three months on the sidelines.

Gleeson made his long awaited return to football n Saturday for Essendon’s VFL team after overcoming quad and groin injuries.

The 19-year-old got plenty of the ball in yesterday’s 17 point loss to Collingwood in the VFL.

“It was good to be back out there today it has been three months so it was nice to just have a run around,” Gleeson said.

“Obviously it would have been nice to have a win with the boys but it wasn’t to be so I will come back next week to try and get back on the winners list.”

“We needed to win to keep finals for the VFL side alive and to lose is very disappointing.”

Gleeson burst onto the AFL scene at the start of this season playing seven of the first eight matches for the Bombers senior team before being struck down by injury.

After overcoming a quad injury he suffered at training he was set to make his return before groin soreness kept him on the sidelines.

While he is fully focused on just getting some strong form under his belt the dashing defender still has his sights set on a potential return to the AFL side.

“I need to get a few games under my belt, I was a bit rusty today at times with turning the ball over a bit too much,” Gleeson said.

“Hopefully I can get a bit of form up and work on my match fitness then we will see what happens from there.”

Gleeson averages 15 disposals a game from his seven matches at AFL level in 2014.