THE last thing any footballer wants during the pre-season period is to pick up an injury, so you can imagine how annoyed I was when I hurt my foot during a training session 10 days ago and discovered later that I had suffered a hairline fracture in one of the toes on my right foot.
The injury forced me to sit out last Saturday’s final warm-up match at Stafford Rangers and, although I was back in training with the rest of the lads on Thursday, it looks as though the week-long stay in the treatment room has cost me the chance of a place in the gaffer’s starting line-up against Stevenage Borough this afternoon.
But footballers soon get used to such disappointments and at least I can console myself with the thought that today’s game is just the first in what promises to be a long and probably hard slog between now and next May and that I’ll get my chance in the first team when someone else picks up an injury or suspension.
My injury apart, I think the last few weeks have been a really successful build-up towards the new campaign, which will be something of an unknown quantity for myself and several of the other lads.
We haven’t lost any of our pre-season games and I’m sure the gaffer has seen enough from them to be satisfied that his plans and preparations have worked well.
Just as important is the fact that virtually everyone is now fit and ready to play their part in what we all hope is a brief stay in the Blue Square Premier. The first few games come thick and fast and by the end of the month we’ll have a pretty good idea of just how strong the competition is
I was particularly impressed by the team’s performance at Stafford last weekend, where we scored a few goals and rarely looked in any danger of conceding.
The 6-0 win certainly didn’t harm anyone’s confidence as we prepare for today’s opener against a Stevenage side who are themselves fancied to do well this season.
Despite the disappointment we all experienced just a few months ago, I’m sure Dragons fans will turn out in force this afternoon to support the lads and hopefully we’ll pick up all three points and get the campaign off to a flying start.
Enjoy the game!
