It is nearly four months since Fleetwood Town striker Andy Mangan last pulled on the shirt for his club.
by David MitchellIt is nearly four months since Fleetwood Town striker Andy Mangan last pulled on the shirt for his club.
The venue was the Memorial Stadium in Bristol, the scoreline 0-0. There can't have been too many results like that in Mangan's career with his fine record of goals and assists throughout his career.
Since that day, 22nd September 2012, the 26 year-old has been preoccupied with a battle to recover from a serious knee injury, the worst setback in his eight year career. I caught up with him at training this week:
'Things are going quite well at the moment and, although I'm not putting any definite time-scale on my return I've got six, seven, eight weeks in my head. If I can get back inside that time it would be great but I can't really rush things because it's a bone issue, not a muscle problem.'
'The surgeon's happy with progress and the next stage is to start jogging then I can step things up one day at a time. I'm not far off running and hopefully some passing drills. I've got to build up my quads and work on my hamstrings then I won't be far away.'
'It's one of the worst times in my career because it's a proper injury. I have always tried to play to my maximum in every game and push myself to the limit so I'm not surprised in a way that it's happened. You just hope it doesn't happen to you.'
'It's horrible seeing the lads in action each week, even in training, and the experience has left me full of admiration for my good mate Anthony Barry who's had to cope with being out for 16 months. It's amazing to see Anthony back in action and I'm so proud of him. He's had to put up with a lot that the fan doesn't see, many hours of work and often on his own. I thought he acquitted himself well on Saturday considering the little football that he had played.'
'The next few weeks are going to be really important for me and I can't wait to be back. There's nothing better than going out to play footy with your mates. Playing hard, being aggressive, having fun. That's what it's all about.'
