Cobblers defender Nelson opens up on his injury 'nightmare'

'For it to be taken away from me so early on in the season, it was really hard to accept mentally.'
Sid Nelson.Sid Nelson.
Sid Nelson.

Cobblers defender Sid Nelson admits it took him a while to process the serious knee injury that would ultimately rule him out for the rest of the season.

The 25-year-old only penned a one-year deal at Sixfields in July but within two months his hopes of becoming a regular fixture in Northampton's defence were dashed by an innocuous incident in training.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

"The worst thing about it was that no-one even touched me," explains Nelson. "It was just so innocuous.

"I turned, my legs stayed one way and I went the other way and it's the nightmare injury to get as a footballer.

"To happen in training and not a game, it makes it even harder to take, but it is what it is and you've got to get your head around it.

"I've set myself targets and hopefully I can get through them and tick each box as it comes and then go from there.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

"At the moment, I'm feeling positive and I'm where I want to be and where I should be."

Three months after sustaining the injury, Nelson is making good progress and looks on course to be fit in time for the start of next season.

"It's going really well at the moment," he added. "I feel a lot more positive and I'm starting to crack on with more work regarding my knee.

"it's positive and I'm just excited to go to the next step and work towards that aim of getting back to full fitness.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

"It took a while to process it. I needed to take a bit of time to myself back indoors with my family and stuff like that because it was a real sucker-punch.

"You sign for a new club and you want to put your foot down and make your mark on the team but for it to be taken away from me so early on in the season, it was really hard to accept mentally.

"But with something like this, you have to be mentally strong and you have to set yourself small targets and small goals and go through it step by step and that's what I've done."