Edwards: I Tried to Stay Positive Through the Dark Moments Thursday, 27th Oct 2022 17:29 Kyle Edwards has admitted there were “dark moments” during his first season as a Town player as he struggled for form and was sidelined by a number of injuries as he looked to make his mark. “There were, definitely,” said Edwards. “The times when I wasn’t in the team, others when I was injured and couldn’t play anyway, especially that spell towards the end of last season when I was out for a while. It’s at times like that when you are obviously going to feel a bit down. “I try to stay positive when it happens. I try to reassure myself that things will get better. I think ‘When I’m fit again I’m going to do my utmost to get into the team’. “Above all else, I tried to stay positive even through the dark moments. There are loads of things that are factors, and in my case it was my first experience of living away from home and adjusting to life at a new club. “There were the injuries as well, of course, and a change in formation, which also affected me. “These things happen in football but from where I was last year to where I am now, I would say I’ve grown up a bit and settled down. I’ve thought ‘This is football, this where I’m at and this is what I’ve got to do.’ I’m in a much better head space and ready to go. “I definitely appreciate football more than I did before, because when I was out injured I had it taken away from me and that wasn’t nice. I could see the lads out on the training pitch and I was stuck in the gym or on the physio’s bench. “Once I was fit and ready to return I couldn’t wait to get going again because I missed it so much.” No footballer wants to be injured and Edwards’s lengthy absence in the final months of last season due to a quad problem was a massive blow. He added: “I was out for a long time and that meant I was coming in to do a lot of rehab work in order to get fitter and stronger. “I had a few injuries last season so I was doing injury prevention stuff to stay fit and healthy. I’ve done extra work with the coaches so that I’m in better shape now to help the team when required. “The training is very hard and intense here, almost as hard as playing in an actual game, but I’m certainly not complaining. “It has benefited me greatly because it made me fitter and stronger so, if the manager wanted me, I was ready to take my chance. Showing the gaffer he could trust me was the main thing in my head.” Teammate Kayden Jackson suffered similarly last season and stated recently that he believes it will probably be during the second half of the season that his performances will peak, something that Edwards fully appreciates after his own battle to bounce back. He continued: “I think I’m still getting there. I haven’t really played for long under the new gaffer and I’m still getting to know the system he likes to play, as well as what he expects of me when I’m in the side or I come on as a sub. “I haven’t played that many games in the past year or so either so I feel as if I might push on a lot more during the second half of the season. Hopefully, when the time comes, I’ll be fresher, fitter, everything.” Town head for Charlton on Saturday in a strong position in the table, having lost only twice in 16 league games so far, and Edwards said: “It’s really good and we are also 14 points clear of seventh place. At the start of the season we said it didn’t matter who we were playing or who was in the team, we wanted to rack up the points as quickly as possible, which is what we have done. “In the early part of last season we slipped up on too many occasions and it cost us a lot of points, which showed at the end of the season. We wanted to put that right this season and our record has been a lot better, which is obviously reflected in our position in the league.” Town are looking for a third win on the trot in South London after a narrow, but thoroughly deserved, 1-0 home win over Derby County was followed on Tuesday with a 3-2 win at Port Vale as Freddie Ladapo netted twice and teenager Cameron Humphreys, making his full league debut, marked the occasion with a goal. Edwards added: “Things can change very quickly in football and you’ve got to be ready to react to whatever’s coming next. I think that’s one thing that’s very good about our team; no matter what type of game it is we can find ways of winning, different ways to outdo the opposition. “Everyone knows Freddie can score goals and it’s great that he is doing it for Ipswich. We’re all very happy for him. He’s always been getting into the right areas and it’s because he knows where to be, and consistently does it, that he is there for the tap-ins. “We couldn’t be more pleased for him and it’s the same for Cam, who made a great league debut, but the main thing is always the team and the fact that we came away with a win and three points was most important. Now it’s on to Charlton looking to win again. “It’s a long season and there are still two thirds of it left to play. The main aim is still the same — to win as many games as possible and to clinch promotion as quickly as possible. “If we’re going up everybody will be happy, that’s for sure, and it looks as if we’re going about it the right way.” To celebrate West Brom’s promotion to the Premier League in the summer of 2020, Edwards released a video, Promotion Ting. Anything in progress for this summer should Town make it to the Championship? “We’ll got to see first,” he laughed. “It’s a long season, we’re only at the start. I think the main goal for everyone is just to focus on winning the games early and towards the end if we get promoted, then everyone will be happy and then who knows after that, who knows?”
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