Rea not putting a date on his return from injury

Luton midfielder Glen Rea isn’t going to put any kind of date on a return from injury despite stepping up his comeback this week.
Glen Rea suffers his long-term injury back in DecemberGlen Rea suffers his long-term injury back in December
Glen Rea suffers his long-term injury back in December

The 24-year-old damaged his cruciate ligaments during the 2-0 win over Burton back on December 22 and didn’t play again for the rest of the season.

However, five months on, and the Hatters posted footage on their official Twitter account of Rea running on the grass once more last week, a welcome boost for the ex-Brighton player.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Asked when he may be fully fit again, Rea said: “I can say I’m going to hope, but if I hope for a date and I don’t make a date it will annoy me.

“I’m in a real good place at the minute with the knee.

“I’ve not put a date on it, but I’ll be back when I’m back, and I’m telling you when I’m back I’m going to be better than I was.”

Rea did admit there had been some tough times in learning that his campaign was finished and the severity of his injury when it occurred.

He continued: “I did have a couple of bad days, when they told me on Christmas Eve that I did my ACL, it properly hit me hard.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“I was in a bad way and then I woke up in the morning and thought ‘there’s so many worse things happening than me getting injured. I’m going to be back from this and I’m going to be stronger, because I feel stronger than I ever was.’

“So I said to myself, whenever I get down, whenever I get thoughts that bring me down, I just think to myself, ‘listen, there’s people worse off.’ I’ll take it, it is what it is.

“I’m doing what I love every day, I’m going in, I’m there more now then I ever was, so I’m just happy I’m doing what I’m doing.

“I’m living the dream, this was just a small hiccup and I’ll be back from it stronger.”

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Rea was also quick to pay tribute for the work done by Town’s medical staff to get him to this point, as he continued: “They’re unbelievable, Simon (Parsell), Daz (Cook) and Chris (Phillips).

“Chris is working with me one-on-one, Si oversees it all, they know me, they know what I’m like, they know my character.

“So when I’m down, they say ‘listen, you look tired, just go home,’ so I can’t sing their praises enough, they’ve been unbelievable.”

The midfielder will also use team-mate Luke Berry as an inspiration too, who made a startling recovery to feature this season after his own serious injury.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

He said: “Luke has done it, if you’re willing to work hard, you can do anything.

“People say you can’t do that, but you can, if you’ve got it in your mind that you can do something.

“If you’ve got it in your mind that you want to work harder than anyone else, you can do anything, and that’s what I’ve got in my mind.

“I’m going to work so hard to get back, because I want to be in the Championship and I want to play for this club in the Championship, and hopefully I can next year.”

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

When Rea got injured, Town were nine games into their record breaking unbeaten run which saw them go 28 matches without defeat.

He took solace in the fact that the club were doing so well in his absence though, saying: “We were winning games, but it’s when we lose games, I want to be out there.

“I’ve said all along, anyone who comes out of the team, whoever steps in is going to do the same job as the person who’s come out, and that’s what is so great about this team, because we’re all together.

“Even the people who haven’t been playing as much this season, they’re still part of it.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“Everyone’s pushing everyone in training every day, so it’s for everyone, just an unbelievable achievement.”

On his plans for the summer, Rea added: “I’ll be in working hard to get back as soon as I can. I want to come back as a Championship player and I need to work hard to get there.”

Related topics: