Luke Varney has reflected on the toughest period of his career — between May and December last year as he battled back to full fitness to prove he still had what it takes to make a living from the game he loves.
Apart from months of rehab, 33-year-old Varney had to sacrifice life with his family at their East Midlands base and was without a salary until Town were fully satisfied with his fitness and he signed a deal until the end of the season.
Varney said: "I had no income from the beginning of July until I signed the contract here at the start of December.
"I can’t moan too much — but while footballers are stereotyped for having a lot of money it’s all relative. I still had a mortgage to pay, for instance, and I found it difficult for those few months.
"But the owner put a nice apartment up for me, so it meant I wasn’t paying for accommodation, which helped. I had to knuckle down and I had a few Pot Noodles.”
The experienced striker recalled the moment he was told the full extent of the ruptured achilles injury he sustained in first-leg play-off action at Portman Road and had to come to terms with the fact that he faced a lengthy spell on the sidelines.
Varney added: "The initial feeling was one of shock because of the injury and then I began to realise the reality of the situation going forward.
"The club was great with me — I’ve said that a lot — and both the gaffer and the owner looked after me. The lads were fantastic too.
"It was probably the toughest period of my career but it was made easy for me. The rehab, when I think about it I did four months of gymnastics and I owe them a great deal as well, but now I’m back it doesn’t feel as if I’ve ever been away.
"People might think I’m coming to the end of my career but I feel good and my wife and family were very understanding. They knew I was having seven or eight-hour days down here so there wasn’t much point in me being there.
"I was able to concentrate solely on my achilles and I put a lot of effort in. I did a lot of swimming, a lot of gymnastics and a lot of cycling. I’ve had all the benefits from it and to be honest I feel stronger than I did before I got injured.”
Asked if he complete confidence in the achilles, Varney laughed: "Yes, it’s just everything else that’s hurting at the minute. I’m getting back and I expected to feel sore after my first start on Saturday.
"But I actually feel great and I felt really sharp in training on Monday. I’m going to be making progress all the time now and I’ll be better for having played at the weekend, that’s for sure.”