Luka Modric thanked the Real Madrid fans for their support after returning from injury in a 3-0 LaLiga victory against Leganes on Sunday.
Modric had been out since September with a knee problem but made an impressive comeback as Madrid stretched their lead at the top of the table to five points ahead of Barcelona's trip to Sevilla later in the day.
The Croatia international came off the bench to play half an hour and said he was happy to be back on the pitch after a spell on the sidelines.
"I'm really glad to be back with the team and to have been able to play 30 minutes," he told Real Madrid TV.
"Now I need to keep working and to keep improving physically.
"I want to say thank you for the lovely welcome back, which helped me feel good on the pitch.
"I think the 30 minutes went well considering I'd been out for a month and the best part was that I didn't feel any issues."
Modric accepted Madrid were not at their best in the early moments of the Leganes win, until Gareth Bale struck twice before half-time to put them in control, with Alvaro Morata on target with 14 minutes remaining.
"It was a very important victory," Modric said."In the first 30 minutes we didn't start well.
"But then we improved and we scored three goals, although it could have been more."
