Kilmarnock boss Neil McCann says he feared Marley Watkins would not feature for the rest of the season when he took charge last month.
Watkins came off the bench to great effect on Saturday as he found the top corner with an excellent header to earn Killie a point at Dundee United.
And McCann praised the 35-year-old striker's powers of recovery.
"I'm so surprised that he's come back," McCann said.
"When I first came in, he was suffering from an ankle injury after recovering from a longer-term issue. I didn't think I'd see him again this season because we felt it might be quite a bad one.
"It just typifies what type of boy he is, that he's pushed himself to the situation where he's ready to be involved again.
"It's such a good header."