Crystal Palace have received a major injury boost as their promising start to the season continues to gather pace after key midfielder Eberechi Eze made his return from injury.

What's the word?

The creative talent started for the Eagles' U23s against Blackburn Rovers on Monday afternoon, impressing throughout his hour-long runout.

Eze was unable to prevent the capital club's youngsters from falling to a 2-1 defeat, but he was central to most of their attacking play and came through his first appearance since May unscathed.

A match report on Palace's official website read: "Eberechi Eze took to the field in a Crystal Palace shirt for the first time in five months, the next step in his lengthy rehabilitation from injury."

And The Athletics Dan Woosnam also provided an update on the former England U21 international's comeback.

He tweeted: "Eze brought off after 61 minutes for #CPFC Under-23s. Comes through unscathed & was heavily involved in most of Palace attacks. Will take time to build up to full fitness & sharpness but this was almost as good a start as could have been expected."

News that Eze has started his first game in almost half a year and come through it without any further issues will leave Palace manager Patrick Vieira feeling absolutely delighted.

Last season, no Eagles player bettered or matched his tally of six Premier League assists and he also produced the most key passes and dribbles, with average totals of 1.3 and 1.9 per league game respectively, as per WhoScored.

Adding those impressive figures to Vieira's new-look attack will make the south London outfit a frightening prospect in the months to come, especially with the likes of Wilfried Zaha and Odsonne Edouard already in fine form.

That being said, Eze's first outing for the first team this term is still likely to be some weeks away.

And, in other news...Report shares encouraging Crystal Palace update, fans will surely be delighted