Central defender Damien Delaney has thanked Town’s medical staff for their swift response to the serious thigh injury he suffered in training last Thursday. The Irishman, who was released from hospital earlier in the week, is expected to be out of action for around three months.
Delaney told the club site: "The medical people from [physios] Matt [Byard] and Mark [Endacott] and [club doctor] Dr Lewis, to the surgeons at the hospital were top class.
"They all reacted really quickly and I can't praise them enough. I'm lucky in that I had the best medical help available to deal with the situation.
"I've been told it was a pretty serious problem and it could have been a lot worse than it turned out if the medical staff has not acted as positively."
The former QPR and Hull man says the injury was unlike anything else he has previously suffered: "I have never had anything like this before and I hope I don't have anything like it again.
"I had a run of the mill collision in training and suffered a dead leg. I put an ice bag on it as I normally would and did some work in the gym but it got worse pretty quickly. The leg just felt dead.
"I hobbled back into the medical room and took the ice bag off and my thigh had ballooned up. The pain was incredible. I have never felt anything like it.
"The doc [Dr Lewis] was called and within a few minutes I was on my way to hospital.
"The surgeon said they needed to open up my leg straight away to ease the pressure and the whole thing was a nightmare to be honest.
"I lost a lot of blood and it leaves you feeling so weak. I can't walk more than 10 yards at the moment before I feel knackered!”
Delaney, 29 yesterday, says he’s not yet sure quite when he’ll return to action: "There's no real guide to follow when it comes to the recovery. It's not like I've done a hamstring and know I'm going to be out for three or four weeks. At the moment all I can do is rest and let my body catch up.
"There's no fitness work I can do. I've got to get my strength back first and then go from there.
"I don't want to set a timeline but I want to get back as soon as possible and I'm very optimistic I can do that. The surgeon assured me that as they had operated within a few hours of the problem, there should be nothing to worry about in relation to a reaction or any further trouble with the leg.
"Like I said, I can't thank the medical people, all of them, enough. There's been talk that my career could have been over, so I've got a lot to thank them for."
Meanwhile, former Blue James Scowcroft played for local side Bury Town in their pre-season friendly against against Biggleswade Town last night. The 34-year-old was released by Leyton Orient at the end of the season.