Injured duo taking steps to returning to training
James Wesolowski and Nathaniel Knight-Percival are continuing their rehabilitation following their cruciate ligament operations earlier this year.The two have been hard at work with physio Chris Skitt over the summer as they increase the work load to strengthen their knees and work on fitness. Both are on track with their programmes and some of the work they have been putting in has been inspirational to manager Micky Mellon.
Skitty has been filming some of the sessions and putting them on YouTube to give everyone an insight the sessions Weso and Natty have been going through. You can see the hard work and dedication the pair put into the sessions and their will to get back playing for Town.
Since the start of pre-season training Weso and Natty have been joining in with everyone else for some of the sessions, but then they break off to continue their work with Skitty. At present all is on track and we are looking at around a month or so before they return to full training.
Manager Micky Mellon has been keeping close tabs on how the pair have been doing and after seeing them out with Skitty has nothing but praise for them.
“I’ve seen the clips of them training and it was inspirational,” he said.
“My lad’s friends think ‘I’d love to be a footballer’ and they see us all in our shiny kit and lovely, funky boots, and think ‘that’s magic’.
“But I showed them the training sessions that those two are doing and said ‘you have to do this’.
“They’re getting fired out of elastic bands, jumping over fences, having to touch things and sprint, and at the end, they’re falling to the ground in exhaustion.
“Then they’re expected to get back up and go again, every day for an hour-and-a-half to try to overcome their knee injuries.
“They’re inspirational. They’re working hard to try to come back into our team and make the team better.
“I’ve spoke to them and told them that it’s so refreshing and humbling to see that desire to want to be a footballer again and that they’re making sure they’re giving themselves the best opportunity of starting in that first day of pre-season.”
Micky has been so impressed by the efforts of the pair he is considering using the DVD as an example to any aspiring youngster who wants to know what it takes to become a professional footballer.
“I’ll say ‘if you’re prepared to live like that and show that kind of desire, that’s what it takes’,” he said.
“Any player that now comes to me and says ‘I feel a bit tired’ or ‘I don’t want to train because I’ve got this or that’ I’ll pull out that video. It’s a real eye-opener. It’s not about a Saturday: That’s the stage. It’s what they do off the stage that makes them what they are.
“They behave, eat, think and sleep properly, and their families understand these lads have to eat pasta and go to bed at 10pm when it’s sunny because they have to train in the morning.
“That for me has been brilliant.”
To see some of Skitty's video clips pop over to :-
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCeZ1yEBiQraPc5lvgvR2Omg
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCeZ1yEBiQraPc5lvgvR2Omg