Town defender Tommy Smith has recalled the moment he was warned an operation could end his playing career.

Fortunately, fit-again Smith returned from a five-month absence through injury when he came off the bench to replace Myles Kenlock in Sunday’s 1-1 draw against Norwich.

But he will never forget being told there was a chance, albeit a slim one, that he might never play again after undergoing back surgery.

Smith, 26, said: “When the surgeon said there was a 10 per cent chance, if the surgery didn’t go well, that it would finish my career I was obviously taken aback and there were a few tears.

“I only went there with a view to getting injections so when he said it I needed a few seconds for it to sink in.

“But after that my mindset was ‘That’s not going to happen, I’m going to make sure that I come back as good as I was before, if not better’.

“I had experienced a bad injury before and when you eventually get back you savour every moment you get out on the pitch.

“However, it was another reminder of just how lucky we are to play football for a living and there are an awful lot of people who would like to be able to do that. It’s something you can’t just take for granted.”

Smith was asked if he thought ‘What if’ as he prepared to go under the knife and responded: “The surgery was out of my hands so I had to wait and see how that went.

“But once he had assured me that it all went smoothly I knew nothing would stop me. I did everything as diligently as I could to make sure I got back to 100 per cent fitness.”

Now he would like nothing more than to make his second appearance after recovering from injury on Saturday against Brentford, the club where he was on loan this time seven years ago.

Smith remembered: “My time there was brief — I think I only played eight times for them before I was called back to Ipswich — but I enjoyed it there and the fans were very good to me.

“It’s always nice coming up against one of my former clubs because I have no ill-feeling towards any of them.

“They were in League One at the time and played with Toums [Toumani Diagouraga]. We both came in at a similar time — he was on loan from Peterborough — and we even stayed in the same hotel.

“He was obviously a fantastic servant for Brentford and did phenomenally well in the season they got to the play-offs.

“He rightfully earned himself a move to Leeds but while it hasn’t worked out too well for him there he’s doing well for us and hopefully that will continue through to the end of the season.”

Smith has no concerns over Town boss Mick McCarthy’s recent preference for a 3-5-2 formation, pointing out: “I’ve played there quite a bit with New Zealand — we’ve used that formation quite a lot — and on some past occasions we’ve played it here at Ipswich.

“I’ve enjoyed it and I think it’s a really tough formation to play against if you do it properly.”

Meanwhile, Smith is hoping six years of hard work studying for a degree in Exercise and Sports Science will be rewarded in the weeks to come, with the deadline for him to present a dissertation coinciding with his 27th birthday at the end of this month.

Smith added: “Being out injured enabled me to put a lot more time and effort into that. It is due in at the end of March so not long left now.

“I’ll be glad when it’s over and I’ll be happy to have the degree behind me because you never know when it’s going to be your last game and you might need something for a future career.

“I started it in 2011 and it’s a distance learning degree through Manchester Metropolitan University.

“The PFA have helped to subsidise it and they are really good like that, anything to do with sorting out a career after football and they’re really helpful.

“I can’t think them enough for their help. Hopefully I’ll have a degree to my name next month. A 2:1 would be great but I’ll just be happy to pass.

“My dissertation is on the differences in test results between end-of-season testing and pre-season testing, so the effects of an off-season training programme.”

Photo: TWTD

hampstead_blue added 08:48 - Mar 2 Last season a few of us injured veterans visited the town training ground. The purpose was to talk to the youth players about how to cope with career ending injury. I met Tommy that day and swapped a "Band of Brothers" (you have to be an injured Vet to get one) sweatshirt for his training top. The youngsters couldn't grasp the notion that they may have a serious injury, like us, and be forced, like us, to change career. I think that players could learn a lot from how we have coped with career and life changing injuries.

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Bradleyblue89 added 09:28 - Mar 2 Great to have Tommy back, and good on him for getting some qualifications and preparing for when he hangs up his boots. Personally can't understand why he can't afford to pay for the qualification himself. Would like to see the FA fund some of the lower league players to get qualifications, as they tend to be the ones who drop out and end up with no qualifications.

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