Ryan Colclough feels his hard work is paying off after starting for the first time since November in the Carabao Cup first round clash against Derby County on Tuesday night.
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The 24-year-old tore his anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in the away clash at Bristol Rovers last season and a timescale of nine months-plus was put on the recovery, but the attacker is pleased to have returned ahead of schedule.
“It was a great feeling to be back out there, especially at home in front of the fans. I’ve worked really hard over the summer,” he told iFollow Iron.
“I’ve come off the bench the last couple of weeks and it’s important for me to get as much game time as possible so I can get that full match fitness. To get 70 minutes was really great for me.
“I’ll be doing everything I can recovery-wise and hopefully if the gaffer thinks I’ve done well enough, I can start again on Saturday. Hopefully we can get those first points on the board.”
"Again, he'll be involved (this weekend), whether that's from the start or the bench," manager Paul Hurst added.
"There has been no negative reaction, so that's a big positive. It's been a long time since he started a first team game of football. He's had a few cameo appearances and each time it's a building block to getting him back where we want."
Colclough believes the performance against Derby was pleasing for all of the players involved.
The midfielder was disappointed after the result away at Cheltenham last weekend and is adamant that the team is doing all that they can to move on quickly from that.
“If we are going off Saturday’s performance, then it was much better. I think we dug in a lot harder and everyone did their jobs,” he added.
“It was a shame that we got done on the counter-attack, and it was a very good goal. Derby were a very good side and I think we gave them a good run for their money.
“We have not had a great start to the season so far, but we know where we have gone wrong. On Tuesday night, we knew we were the underdogs going into the game. We tried to prove that wrong, we worked hard, but it just was not our night.
“As a team, if we work as we have done against Derby, we are not going to go far wrong. Saturday was embarrassing for all of us as players, we let the club down and we let the fans down. We have made a real point this week to try and change that.”
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