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After a whole series of injuries, defender Yuval Shpungin was finally back on the bench for last night's Cup tie at Bloomfield: "It's great to be back in the squad"

Four months have passed since Maccabi Tel Aviv defender Yuval Shpungin last appeared in the team's "Toto" (League) Cup match against Hapoel Petach Tikva in September, and he's still waiting for an opportunity to get back on the pitch. Last night he took his first steps, as member of the squad chosen for the team's State Cup tie against Hapoel Ashkelon, and even though in the end he didn't get the nod, he has every reason to be satisfied: "It's great to be back in the squad, I've been waiting for this moment a long time. I've been through a tough time and unlucky to have run up a number of injuries, but it's good to be back. I had a groin injury for a couple of months and that was followed by a knee operation, it was very difficult. But I kept working hard and with much thanks to the team's medical staff I can now look ahead. Now all I have to do is keep up the hard work".

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UKYfWZXg1hc&x-yt-ts=1422411861&x-yt-cl=84924572

In the meantime, the veteran defender, who returned to the club in last summer's transfer window, is waiting patiently for his chance to take up regular team duty. He's as pleased as anyone the club are now through to the State Cup quarter finals: "Of course I was hoping to play in the match tonight, every player feels that way, but what I wanted most is that we should win, that's most important. It wasn't that easy but now at least we're in the next round. When I was playing in Cyprus I won two Cups playing but the closest I ever got here in Israel was when Maccabi won the Cup in 2005 when I wasn't in the squad on the night". Here's hoping that in this season's State Cup competition, Yuval can infuse the team with some of his Cypriot luck.