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" I am feeling very well, I'm a bit stiff from the game on Wednesday but I really enjoyed it and I'm just glad to be back involved. Thankfully we had a good side and Blackpool brought up five or six experienced professionals so it was a good standard out there and it was a really enjoyable game. Probably as close to a first-team game as you can get because sometimes reserve games can be a bit hit-and-miss with players who don't want to be there. To be fair to both sides though they went out there and gave it a right good go.
" Which, to be honest, after about an hour I was feeling the pinch a bit but I really enjoyed it. I had word with Dolly (Neil Dalton) who I have been seeing more of than my missus of late but we said that we'd just give it a go and see how long I could last. I think it got to about 70 minutes and Eric (Kinder) looked at me with his thumbs up or down and I felt reasonably OK, so I just decided to stay out there for the full 90. Which is only going to be a benefit for me in the long run.
" It's been a bit of a nightmare to be honest, it's been made even worse because I've been the only one that has been injured. I've seen the odd lad in the gym a day here and a day there, not that I want anyone else to be injured of course but it's always nice when there a few in there with you because you can help each other through. There have been a few long and lonely days sitting on the bike and a lot of the time I wasn't really doing anything so it's been frustrating but I'm just looking forward now and I'm looking forward to getting back involved.
" Other than the lungs being a bit stretched I felt reasonably OK, so touch wood the calf has been fine. The first thing to be sure of is that you are pain-free before you play a game because there is no point coming back into a game if you feel a little niggle here and there because the chances are that is going to happen again. So, first and foremost you want to be pain-free, then you look to getting back into training with the lads to try to get yourself going again and get the legs going. "
" I did that for a full week to ten days then we always earmarked this game from probably three or four weeks ago that that was the aim to get back to. Thankfully I got the ten days under my belt and we looked at this game and I came through the 90. I'm at the stage now where I've played a game and got through it which is great, now the next stage is to build on that to get myself to full match fitness. The next step will be, I still need a few more games but it will be entirely up to the gaffer (John Ward).
" I'm fit to be involved in games now so it's how he sees it and how the staff see it as to whatever part I play in first-team games. I'm sure that whenever reserve team games come along that I'll be getting as many minutes as I can. Frustratingly there isn't a reserve game next week which I could have done with really to be honest but there is one the following week. I'm just happy to be back training to be honest and had the game under my belt, whatever comes my way comes my way, as long as I can just stay fit and healthy and be there whenever the gaffer needs me.
" He (John Ward) has been great with me to be honest, he's come looking for me most days to see how I have been getting on. He was at the game the other day, he came to watch and he was pleased with the lads as a whole, it was a really good game and a good runout. Again today he's just been asking how I feel, obviously he appreciates the fact that I am going to be stiff and a bit sore and things.
" He's kept me very much involved though in terms of the home games, I've been to a few away games and I've been made to feel very much a big part of things and I thank him for that. That's all I've wanted, once the training and games come now it's up to me to show him what I can do and then he makes the decisions from there.
" Most people know that I have known Lummy (Chris Lumsdon) for ten years and I car share with Bridgey (Marc Bridge-Wilkinson) so I'm quite close to the pair of them, and whoever else plays there (in central midfield). I think it's been great, like everybody I want to play as much as everybody else but it has been great to see how well the lads have done from a distance if you like with having the injury. We've kept ourselves very much in the race and while we sit fourth now if we win the game in hand we are still top of the league. "
" It's testament to the lads in the squad and everybody involved at the club that we've pushed on so well this year. I think like any squad if you get the opportunity to bring players in that are going to make your squad better then I'm sure that the gaffer will be looking at that. What we don't want though, I think we have a nice settled squad with a lot of players that are more than capable of playing at this level and obviously in the future we hope that we can progress.
" So it's kind of catch-22, you always want to strengthen the squad but you don't want to bring people in just for the sake of it and for the sake of having numbers. Granted you always want to keep your fingers crossed in terms of injuries and that is when obviously sometimes you get a bit stretched. I'm sure the gaffer will be looking around though as all managers are coming towards this time of year. I think if the right opportunities come along then the club will be looking at players but we all know what we want, fans, players and everyone alike.
" We came into this league this year and had a really good season finishing eighth and we just want to better that. We are up at the top of the league there now and deservedly so, so we are just looking to maintain the standards that we have got and hopefully that leaves us in and around the situation that we are in at the minute. I don't think we are surprised about where we are, although I can only speak for myself. Coming to the club when I came I knew that things were on the up with the two back-to-back promotions and I'm sure that last season we over-achieved to a certain extent.
" We didn't expect to finish maybe that high at the start of the season as we did, but off the back of this season everybody expects and that is a good thing. We expect as players and the fans expect us to be up there again, all you can do is go out there and give your best. I don't think this season we have been at our maximum, there is still room for improvement and that only bodes well for the future considering we are sitting fourth in the league. "