Edwards: My injury despair

ARGYLE CAPTAIN LEFT DEVASTATED BY SEVERITY OF INJURY

- CHRIS ERRINGTON

JOE Edwards has revealed how he had to have the hamstring tendon in his right leg reattached to the bone in an operation carried out by a top London surgeon.

The 34-year-old Plymouth Argyle captain was operated on by Professor Fares Haddad last Tuesday and has been recuperating at home ever since, although he did go to watch his team-mates when they drew 1-1 away to Derby County at the weekend. There is no timescale yet on when Edwards could return to playing himself, other than for him to say it will be 'sometime in the new year' but probably not January.

There is never a good time to be injured, but it came at a particularly bad time for Edwards because he had been playing some of the best football of his career at the start of this season under Argyle head coach Wayne Rooney.

Edwards told Herald Sport: "I think that's the biggest disappointment and sadness. Obviously, you can get injured whenever in football, it's part and parcel of our job, but it had gone so well for me this season. I was enjoying it, playing some good stuff and felt really fit.

"It seems to be the way sometimes, it brings you back down with an injury. The severity of it was the biggest disappointment for me, and also the responsibility that I have, I always feel like I should be there to help the team and help the club, and being injured for a period of time that's something I will find hard, not being able to help on the pitch.

"I'm over the sadness of it now. I was really gutted at the time. I knew on the day it was a bad one, it felt bad. Then the scan backed that up and I just couldn't wait to get the surgery done and get on the mend."

He continued: "It's my hamstring tendon. I have had fixed back up to my bone from a very good surgeon in London, Professor Haddad, who does a lot of the top Premier League boys' injuries. So that was brilliant. It's reattached and ready to repair, which is great news.