top of page

Paul Dummett edging closer to a return


"At the time, there was only me and Sadio injured, and Sadio started to train eventually so there was only me injured. You’Re in the physio room by yourself, just watching; then it comes to a game on the weekend and you’re sitting watching from the stand. It is hard to watch because you want to be out there, trying to help the team and do anything you can. That’s the worst part.

"For the first four weeks, I was on crutches, in a brace, so I couldn’t do anything really. I was getting a bit of treatment, then once you come out of the brace, you start to walk freely and it’s a matter of building up with jogging, then in the gym doing strength work.

"The physio told me to do it in stages; you do your first four weeks in your crutches and brace, then you aim for the next point. Once you’re jogging, you do your real rehab and then you aim to get fully training and playing a game. It’s hard work - you probably work even harder when you’re injured, trying to get fit, because the physio’s trying to put you through a lot of intense work to make sure you can cope with full training. Especially with a hamstring injury, it’s all about sprinting so I think it’s a bit of a confidence thing - knowing you can sprint and it’s not going to happen again.

"One of the biggest things is the mental side of knowing you can actually sprint. In the Premier League, that’s obviously what you’re going to have to do, especially with how quick it is when the ball goes over your head. You’ve got to be able to do that and I need to make sure that when the time comes, when I’m playing a game, I can do that. I can see light at the end of the tunnel so now I’m fully focused on getting back to play a game. I don’t know how long that’ll be, but I’m hoping to get a reserve game in and then try to get back into the team."

9 views
bottom of page