Dion Conroy has revealed that his road to recovery is going to plan as he closes in on a return to running, and he's aiming to come back stronger and better than ever.
The defender has been out of action since September after suffering cruciate ligament damage, which brought his season to a premature end following what was an impressive start to the 2017/18 campaign.
It has been a long few months for the 22-year-old since, who spent the first six or so weeks after surgery in a knee brace.
Conroy also underwent surgery on his shoulder just before Christmas to cure an injury that was picked up on the opening day of the season, but the centre-back is now finally starting to see light at the end of the tunnel.
"It has been quite a long time. I had an operation on my shoulder in December as well, but everything is going well, everything is on track and I'm working hard every single day," he told swindontownfc.co.uk.
"I know that I've got to be patient, keep working hard and I'll eventually get back playing.
"I started running last week but you have to be cautious after surgery, so if you get a little niggle you might need to have a couple of days off where you relax.
"It is hard putting a programme together because I'm trying to get my knee right but I've also got to do stuff around my shoulder.
"Hopefully I'll start running properly now and it is a case of building it up from there.
"I've just got to see how my knee feels after I start running and, hopefully once I start to feel comfortable and knowing I can do all different types of movements, then I can start setting goals in terms of when I want to be back properly, when I can play my first game and things like that.
"It is difficult to set goals at the moment because it is hard to judge how your knee is day by day, most of the time it is really, really good but sometimes you might get a day where it is uncomfortable.
"Hopefully I'll be able to start running soon."
"I know that I've got to be patient, keep working hard and I'll eventually get back playing."
And Conroy also admitted that the first few months of his injury were the toughest, but his strong character and belief that he'll be back stronger than ever has got him through the worse periods.
"I was in a brace for six weeks so I couldn't bend it past ten degrees, I couldn't drive, I had to sleep with it on so that was very tough," he added.
"As soon as I came out of my brace I had to have surgery on my shoulder just weeks later, so it was tough but I'm mentally strong and it is part of the game.
"I've been watching my games from last season and from this season and it has just motivated me to come back even stronger and better.
"I'm using it as a reset button to make myself better."
