Striker Freddie Sears says he’s now feeling good after a long battle back from the ruptured cruciate knee ligament he suffered at Norwich a year ago last Monday.
"I’m feeling good, I’m in a good place at the minute,” the striker said speaking at a media call ahead of Community Trust Day on Saturday.
"It’s been a long battle, the last nine months, a year but I’m feeling really good at the minute.”
The 30-year-old admits that he’s disappointed not to have started a league game so far, his match from the start in his seven games since his return having come at Exeter in the Leasing.com Trophy.
"Yes, but I understand the situation, I’ve been out a long time but now I feel like I’m pushing,” he said.
"I’m training well day by day, feeling stronger and better and just need games now, I need some game time and hopefully show what I can do.
"Obviously it’s a long time, it’s not a two or three-month injury, I’ve been out with a serious knee injury, so it takes time.
"This time last year I couldn’t walk, I couldn’t walk for three months really so to a certain degree with the injury you’ve got to be patient and it’s just a blessing to be back involved and training.
"But from a personal point of view obviously I want to help out, I want to be involved and I feel like I need game time now to get to that next level.”
Looking back at how he sustained the injury, he says the tackle with Norwich’s Tom Trybull was hardly the toughest challenge.
"No, it was a freak injury really,” he reflected. "It wasn’t even a big tackle, it wasn’t anything major. I knew something wasn’t right because I could feel my leg buckling as I was walking off and I’ve not really been injured, touch wood.
"But I knew something was wrong and the next day I got the news and was devastated. But as soon as I had the operation it was just thinking about getting fit and trying to get first as soon as possible and trying to help out as much as I can.”
He says it was difficult watching the Blues’ relegation from the Championship from the sidelines unable to play a part.
"It was, strangely it took it away a little bit, the relegation, and we were struggling and it was tough,” he said.
"I had a bit of time off, I was off for a good month and a bit and spent a lot of time with the family, which obviously helps.
"And I came back feeling really positive, really good in the summer, as everyone did I suppose with the fresh start and it’s an injury which will probably stay with you for a long while because it’s a big injury but as I’m feeling at the minute, I’m feeling good and looking to move past that now.
"To be honest, I’m looking forward to next season. A good pre-season for me will be key. My time will come whether it’s this year or next year, my time will come.”
He says he visited specialists across the globe as he worked on getting back to full fitness.
"London, I went to Dublin for a little bit, Dubai, you’re sort of all over the place,” he said. "Sometimes it’s a bit of rest, sometimes it’s seeing different people with different opinions.
"The first three months were tough because I couldn’t walk properly. People don’t understand you get injured and think it just means you can’t play football but it was affecting other parts of life, like family life and stuff.
"I lost a big summer last year with my boys, I couldn’t play football but as soon as I got the all-clear I was in the garden playing football in the garden with the boys and they’re loving it. But I’m hopefully over that now and hopefully I’ll have no more injuries.”
He admits being injured long-term can be solitary and boring but he says those similarly sidelined help to keep one another’s spirits up.
"You probably heard it before with injuries, you’re sort of on your own, you’re left to your own devices, I suppose,” he said.
"It’s a lonely place at times when you’re in the gym and the boys are going out. I don’t want to be in the gym, I want to be out training every day and it’s tough.
"But there have been a few, Jack Lankester’s been injured a long while, so he’s been in there, Teddy Bishop’s been injured a long while, so there’s been a good few. Tristan Nydam, everyone’s trying to stay positive around each other.
"You’re separated from the group but when you come back you’ve got to make an impact and hopefully that’s what a few of the boys can do.”
The Hornchurch-born frontman had praise for the way manager Paul Lambert helped keep him involved during his time out.
"Yes, really good,” he said. "Obviously it’s different for me because I’ve never really had this sort of experience before, being injured and being out for this long.
"He’s been good. I went to Germany in pre-season so that keeps you part of it and you still feel you’re involved, which has been good and he’s been really good with me.”
The ex-West Ham and Colchester man says he’s felt OK when he has been involved in matches but feels it’s not easy to adjust to the speed of the game having come off the bench in the closing stages.
"Not bad, it’s tough coming on for 10 or 15 minutes to try and get to the speed of the game but I’m feeling good,” he said.
"Day by day, I feel like I’m getting a lot better, training really well at the minute, which is good and obviously just waiting for an opportunity now and hopefully can try and get in the team sooner rather than later.”
Reflecting on the Blues’ recent lack of goals, he added: "It’s obviously been tough the last three or four weeks but it’s the whole team, it’s just not the front boys, there’s obviously the midfielders.
"We need a bit of help there and at the minute we’re playing a wing-back system so it’s probably not as creative as it could be. It’s down to the team, it needs to start firing sooner rather than later.”
But Sears believes the Blues have the midfielders capable of creating the chances for the front players such as himself.
"Obviously there are some good players in the midfield,” he continued. "We train every day, we know what everyone can do but it’s about doing that in the game and we need more from everywhere at the minute.”