Walsall midfielder Reece Flanagan, who missed the entire of last season after rupturing his anterior cruciate ligament in training in April, before suffering a dislocated shoulder in his comeback game for the developmental side, has spoken to club journalists and discussed his determination to be fit for pre-season
Reece, who was speaking via Saddlers.co.uk, spoke about his recent return to light training, and his desire top be fit when the time comes. He said; "I’m not allowed to do too much on weights yet but I’m practically doing full training now, even if we’re a bit hesitant with full contact. The aim is coming back to pre-season as normal. I can start doing press-ups and light weight work now so I should be able.
"It was disappointing not to be able to do that last year and it’ll be good to get a fresh start. (The shoulder injury) could be a blessing in disguise ironically, as it’s given me time to look at my knee. I can start from new and build into it in pre-season.
"I’ve got to keep maintaining myself with the knee. I need to make sure I build strength over the summer. I can start earlier with my fitness than the rest of the lads this summer. We’ve got another six weeks until we start, so I can build my fitness ahead of pre-season."
Reece went on to discuss his determination to remain positive, along with his desire to get back into the team next season he said; For me, I’ve never taken the time to look at the negatives. I always set myself a target. With the knee, I said I’ll aim for Christmas or January to return, so having done that I put it to the back of my mind.
"Then I had two or three months with the shoulder. I just had to concentrate on getting ready for the start of next year. Hopefully I can play more of a role this year. I was in for a few games previously (in 2015/16) so this year hopefully I can push on."