"Milan was fantastic on Sunday. He was included in the squad because he played for the reserves against Manchester United on the previous Thursday and was superb," enthused Thompson.
"It was as if all that hard work had suddenly paid off and you could see he'd suddenly got it together again. All the medical and technical work he'd gone through came right. He was outstanding, so we knew straight away he was ready to be at least on the bench for the FA Cup tie.
"When he came on against Portsmouth he looked extremely sharp and gave us another edge to our play.
"When a player comes back after serious injury it's always great to see them out there again and it gives everyone a lift. He made a good impact and he's put himself well up for consideration for Thursday."