Ghana midfielder Michael Essien demonstrated that he has overcome his injury problems after playing for Greek giants Panathinaikos in their 1-1 friendly draw against Levadiakos on Saturday, GHANAsoccernet.com can exclusively reveal.

The former Chelsea midfield powerhouse came on as a second-half substitute in the match on Saturday night, Ghana's leading football news outfit can reveal.

Essentially the match was the unofficial debut for coach Andrea Stramatsoni on the Greens bench, in the game that Essien left good impressions.

Essien's return on Saturday delighted the Greek side, sparking hopes that he has overcome his injury problems that have prevented him from playing an official match for Panathinaikos.

The Ghanaian came on in the 46th minute for Lagos after recovering from the knee problem that has prevented him from playing a competitive match for the Greek giants.

Essien showed simplicity in his movements and demonstrated his desire to make the first team of Panathinaikos.

In the 66th minute, the Ghanaian laid a beautiful pass to the young striker Angelopoulos, who, however, missed the face-to-face chance with the goalkeeper.

Of course, Essien is not yet showing the desired degree of readiness, it is obvious that the Ghanaian lacks the pace, and he does not have the appropriate physical condition.

It would be premature to report that Essien can start next week's local derby with arch-rivals Olympiakos as there is not enough time to reach the level of his Panathinaikos team-mates.

Essien has not played an official match for the club since joining them in the summer.

PANATHINAIKOS: Kotsolis (46 'Giannakopoulos) Vemer (46' Marinakis), Nano (46 'bourbon), Sanchez (46' Koutroumpis) tavlaridis (46 'Triantafillopoulos), Lagos (46' Essien), Lund (70 'Donis) , Zeka (46 'Kaltsas) Ajagun (65' Angelopoulos C.) Klonaridis, Petrich (65 'Newman).

Levadeiakos: Tsintotas (46' Moshonas), Manolas, Crafty, Tripotseris, Moulopoulos Stathis, knives (67 'Navarro ), Theos (70 'Chatzilampros) Valerie (79' Ball), favelas (70 'Pappas), Ming (70' KAPSASKI).