Carlos Tevez played his first 45 minutes of football for Manchester City since ending his self-imposed exile from the Premier League leaders when he appeared in a reserve match Tuesday night.

The Argentina striker had a run-out in the first half of the City elite development squad’s home defeat by Preston reserves at Carrington.

The fixture was originally scheduled for today but City moved it to their training ground yesterday and played the match behind closed doors in a bid to reduce what would otherwise have been a large media contingent.

According to a City statement, Tevez, “saw plenty of action without getting a goal chance in his first 45 minutes back”.

After being substituted at half-time, City ended up losing 3-1 to Preston’s second string.

Tevez fell-out with Roberto Mancini after the City manager accused him of refusing to warm-up during a Champions League defeat away to Bayern Munich in September.

The 28-year-old then spent more than three months in Argentina without City’s permission before returning to north-west England two weeks ago after failing to secure a move in January.