McWilliams eager to return after 'frustrating' knee injury

As the Cobblers celebrated their play-off final thrashing of Exeter City at Wembley Stadium last month, there was one member of the squad who could not help but feel a tinge of frustration as he watched on from home.

Shaun McWilliams has not played a game of football since Boxing Day last year and even now, beyond the coronavirus-enforced lockdown and beyond all those glorious scenes at Wembley, he has yet to fully recover from the awful knee injury sustained against Crawley Town.

With only a few minutes to play, and with the Cobblers 4-0 down on a wretched afternoon in West Sussex, the 21-year-old challenged for the ball, landed awkwardly and suffered a cruciate ligament injury, ruling him out for the rest of the season - even accounting for the three-month break - and beyond.

McWilliams, like everyone else, has not been able to escape the effects of the coronavirus pandemic during his recovery but, finally, nearly seven months after the incident, a return is close.

"it's all going well," said McWilliams. "I've been doing most of my rehab at home now and I'm going to St George's Park next week to step up my recovery from there.

"It (lockdown) was a setback for me because I had to slow down my rehab as I obviously wasn't in due to COVID. That slowed me down quite a bit but I've been working closely with Nacho (Herrando) and the fitness department and hopefully now I can push on.

"It's been a mental test as much as anything. It's easier to work when you have someone pushing you on but I had to grind it out and get through it by myself.

"I've been doing what I can at home. It's not easy when the gyms are closed but Ithe Nacho and Pablo have been making sure I've been getting it done."

McWilliams is hoping to be fit in time for the start of next season, expected to be in September.

"I'm hoping to be back as soon as the boys return," he added. "Touch wood, if all goes well and there's no reaction when I get on the pitch at St George's, I'll be back in time for pre-season and I'll be back doing ball work.

"I might not be straight in with the boys but I shouldn't be far off.

"It was difficult and frustrating to watch on (in the play-offs) but the boys put in a great shift and it was great to watch. I wasn't there with them on the pitch but I felt like I was with them and I'm glad we got it done.

"It's made me more hungry and it (being injured) shows not to take things for granted. I've been doing what's needed to get back and I'm ready to go when football returns."