Rea: There were some bad days during injury lay-off

Luton midfielder Glen Rea has admitted there were some dark days during his recovery from the long-term knee injury that saw him finally make his Championship debut for the Hatters this season.

The 25-year-old had been a major part of Town’s League One side last term, playing 22 times before he suffered ligament damage in the 2-0 win Burton Albion on December 22.

He missed the rest of the campaign, returning to training earlier this season and sent out to Woking for a month’s loan in October.

After seven National League appearances for the Cards, Rea returned to Luton’s matchday squad, coming on at Stoke City, although it was still a month until he broke back into the team on a regular basis, starting nine out of 10 matches before the season was postponed due to the coronavirus.

Speaking on the Hatters’ official YouTube channel, when answering questions put to him from the club’s academy players about how he stayed positive through the tough times, Rea said: “I don’t think I did at some points, there was bad days, there were real bad days, I didn’t stay positive for the whole thing.

“I don’t think I realised I was being like that, there were sometimes where I was being someone who I didn’t want to be, it was just because of the situation.

“I wasn’t positive all the time, no way, but to try and stay positive, I just thought, ‘it is what it is.’

“There was the day where they told me that it happened, that was a real dark day, but I got over it quite quick and then I just looked for other things.

“For me, being injured, I can work on other things that I’ve never done before.

“So my focus went to another thing and as you get closer and closer that’s when it gets more frustrating as you can see that you’re nearly there, but really you’re not there.

“So you’ve just got to tell yourself, ‘just be in that moment that you’re in.’

“It’s hard, it’s really hard, but I feel like I’m a different person now to when I got injured and it’s been a good journey for me.”

Although he couldn’t play a role in Town achieving a second successive promotion, as Luton secured their place in the second tier of English football by winning the title, Rea was heartened to watch from the sidelines.

He continued: “There were a few times where I got a bit annoyed, but as the boys were doing so well, it actually made it easier.

“When you’re playing, you don’t really think about getting promoted, so at the time my ACL happened, I didn’t really think about it.

“When you’re on the sidelines you think, ‘we could do it here,’ so it’s harder.

“I was just enjoying watching the boys play as it was really good to see us get promoted, even though it was hard for me.”