Tariq Lamptey thrilled to return to action after 335-day injury absence

[p]The 25-year-old made his long-awaited comeback on Saturday when he came off the bench for [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/qpr/lrMHUHDc/"]Queens Park Rangers[/a] in their goalless Championship draw against [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/bolton/Or1bBrWD/"]Bolton Wanderers[/a] at Loftus Road.[/p][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/lamptey-tariq/2y8EjRQN/"]Lamptey[/a] was introduced with 30 minutes to go, replacing Amadou Mbengue, to make his first appearance for the club since joining this summer.[/p][embed guid="65884407-81eb-4c57-8d6b-9353bff55387" url="https://x.com/QPR/status/2091238977353196019?s=20" social-type="twitter" /][p]It marked an important milestone for Lamptey, whose career had been interrupted by a serious knee injury suffered during his brief spell with [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/fiorentina/Q3A3IbXH/"]Fiorentina[/a].[/p][p]The Ghanaian joined the Serie A club from Brighton in September 2025 but made only two appearances before suffering the ACL injury, bringing his time in Italy to an abrupt end.[/p][p]Fiorentina and Lamptey eventually parted ways, with the defender joining QPR on a permanent transfer in July 2026.[/p][p]Lamptey had been working towards his return since completing his rehabilitation and had already resumed training with his new club. [/p][embed guid="472ca7b9-549f-432e-a0ea-ebab7b068c4c" url="https://x.com/_owurakuampofo/status/2091215852150329549?s=20" social-type="twitter" /][p]QPR dominated much of the contest but were unable to convert their chances against Bolton and in the end had to settle for a goalless draw.[/p][p]Following the game, Lamptey took to social media to celebrate his return and expressed his gratitude for the reception he received at QPR.[/p][p]"[b]So good to be back out there doing what I enjoy. Grateful to God always. Thank you for the warm welcome, now we keep working.[/b]"[/p][p]Lamptey's return is also significant for [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/ghana/nNBjHale/"]Ghana[/a], with the Black Stars returning to action when they begin their [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/soccer/africa/africa-cup-of-nations/"]2027 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers[/a].[/p][image alt="Owuraku Ampofo" id="345f5fd0-6a26-4f45-8078-6462582c5da7" credit-line="Flashscore" guid="ce2bf93d-5c4c-43d5-932e-2e894fc3aa2c" original-width="1200" original-height="381" /]