Two back operations and two years out; Ricky Holmes details his long and painful road back to fitness

It was only his love of football that kept Ricky Holmes going through two back operations and countless physio sessions during his two years out of the game.

The 33-year-old revealed when he re-signed for the Cobblers this week that he was on the verge of retirement several times due to a long-term back injury.

Holmes made his second debut for the club against MK Dons on Tuesday but his previous match before that came for Oxford United in an EFL Trophy tie with Tottenham U21s in December 2018.

Explaining in detail his prolonged injury lay-off, he said: "I was close to calling it a day countless times. I was playing with the injury at Oxford and I shouldn't really have been playing.

"I would train on a Friday, play Saturday and then wouldn't be able to walk properly until Wednesday. I'd then turn round to the gaffer and say 'right, I'm feeling OK now, I can play again on Saturday'.

"That wore me down and it got to that December match (against Tottenham U21s) and said 'enough's enough, I need to get this sorted', but there's a long protocol with back injuries because they're reluctant to operate.

"You have to go through a lot of injections but they didn't work and there was all these other treatments that didn't work so we operated. I was back at Sheffield at the time and I was feeling great when I came back from the operation.

"But I got back out onto the grass and I did the same thing that I had in my left side on my right side so once again I had to go through that six, seventh month protocol before I had another operation.

"Throughout that whole time I thought I would have to give it up, but then I rang Pablo (Garcia, fitness coach at Northampton) and he convinced me to come in and dedicate myself for six to eight weeks so I thought it was worth a go."

If it wasn't for his passion for the game, Holmes would have given it up long ago.

"I kept going because of my love for the game but I sat down at one point and thought that was it," he added. "I hadn't been able to get fit for nearly two years and I thought I might have to call it a day.

"But then I spoke to Pablo. I had my back injury when I was first at Northampton and everyone calls me the 'messiah' at this club but Pablo is definitely my messiah! He's been brilliant for me. I said to him let's give it one more shot and then I can say I've done everything I possibly can to try and get fit. Thankfully, he managed to get me fit."

Pablo's 'magic hands' did the trick, and Holmes will be eternally grateful.

"Pablo understands it's about the individual and the rehab with him has been specific to me," he continued. "He just built up the muscles around the back in a way where there was no pressure going through the spine and now that the muscles are strong enough to take the load, I can continue to run and continue to play.

"I've got the utmost respect for Pablo because he works so hard. No disrespect to Northampton, but he should be at a very, very high level."