Having suffered another serious knee injury less than two months after making his return to first-team action, Duncan Watmore could be forgiven for cursing his luck.
But the 23-year-old isn’t one to ask, ‘why me?’ as he remains upbeat and philosophical about his current situation.
As many of us target a fresh start for the New Year, Watmore will begin the long road to recovery for the second time in the space of months.
You’re not one to dwell on things, Duncan, but were you cursing your luck when you found out it happened again?
DW: “The way in which it happened was very unfortunate. The way the tackle happened, the angle of the tackle and my leg stayed planted under his body. It was a bit of a freak accident really, so in that respect it’s just really, really unlucky. But, at the same time, my philosophy on this kind of thing is – even though I was absolutely gutted – I’m trying to look at the bigger picture. I’m in a very fortunate position to be playing football as a profession and there are a lot of worse things in life than having a bad knee. I’m remaining philosophical about it and I’ve taken a step back. I’ve had a few days where I felt a bit down, but I don’t think that’s going to help anything. I might as well look at the bigger picture, get on with it and do it all again.”
It’s not like the injury happened on your first training session or first game back…
DW: “Exactly, it wasn’t that at all. I’d been involved in five or six games, in the run-up to that game against Millwall I was feeling the sharpest I’ve felt. I went into the game feeling really good and the first 20 minutes was great. It felt the best it ever had. I felt good in my body and had a couple of bursts down the wing feeling good. Then it happened. In one respect it’s really frustrating but, in another, there’s no blame attached to anyone.”
So it’s not like it was a case of ‘could things have been done differently?’…
DW: “There’s nothing I could have done differently. The stuff I did with the physios and surgeon was all spot on, I was patient and waited 10 months. My knee felt in a great place, so I was playing at the right time and was fit. That’s why it was just a freak accident. If I’d have done it turning a corner with nobody near me then I would have been questioning whether I did my rehab right. It was just literally a tackle that could have happened to anyone. At least I know I can get back to that feeling I had at the start of the game, which is my knee feeling perfect.”
I suppose the small consolation is that you know what lies ahead in terms of recovery?
DW: “Yeah, 100 per cent. I think there may be a couple of things we can change slightly between us. Myself and ‘Binners’ will look at things but I did really have the right rehab programme before. Very little needs to be changed and I know what it takes to get back. I know it’s a hard process but I’m really positive about it.”
There are dozens of examples of players who have flourished after suffering under similar circumstances to yourself, have you sought anyone’s advice?
DW: “Well, funnily enough Fraizer Campbell did it twice while he was with Sunderland. He got in touch with me out of nowhere, which was really nice of him. He rang me up and gave me the confidence that I can come back and have a good career and carry on. He made his England debut after two cruciate injuries. He’s a really nice guy and it was completely out of the blue which was really great of him.”
