by Our Sports Desk

Jessica Ennis-Hill is looking for a steady rather than spectacular return when she races for the first time in 22 months in Manchester today.

The Olympic heptathlon champion will make her long-awaited comeback over 100 metres hurdles at the Great CityGames on a purpose-built track on Deansgate.

It is the first time she will have taken to the track since the Anniversary Games at the Olympic Stadium in July 2013. In the intervening months the 29-year-old has given birth to son Reggie, now nine months old, and seen her life and priorities change completely.

Also in action outside the bars and coffee shops of Manchester city centre will be Katarina Johnson-Thompson, who competes in the 200m hurdles in her first race since winning pentathlon gold, and breaking Ennis-Hill’s British record, at the European Indoor Championships in March.

That achievement laid bare the task Ennis-Hill has on her hands to regain her mantle, with her 22-year-old compatriot the new queen of multi-eventing.

“I do feel a little bit like: ‘What am I doing?’ But it’s going to be a really fast race,” said Ennis-Hill, who goes up against US world champion Brianna Rollins, Great Britain teammate and European champion Tiffany Porter and compatriot Lucy Hatton, the European indoor silver medallist over 60m hurdles.

“I’m coming back into a really good field. It’s a good environment with a nice fast track, so I feel that I’ve just got to get back into it and see where I am and have a benchmark for something I can work on throughout the season.”

The Sheffield athlete, who will compete in front of her son and an expected crowd of 25,000 spectators, knows she is stepping into the unknown. The hurdles is her strongest event, but she has admitted she is in a “no-man’s land” of not knowing what sort of time she might be capable of.

A series of minor Achilles niggles have hampered her training a little but she is relishing the chance to feel the buzz of competition again.

“I don’t feel as much pressure because I feel that I’ve had my amazing year of being the poster girl (at London 2012) and achieving my dreams,” she said.

“Now obviously Kat’s here and she’s doing so well. I just want to get back into competing and give myself a really fair go of having a child and coming back and trying to be successful.

“I don’t want to look at this time and think: ‘Why didn’t I give it a proper go?’ I’m happy to keep my head down and focus on what I want to achieve.”