I’M KEEPING MY BROKEN NOSE TO THE GRINDSTONE

Bluebird Morrison waited five years to get back in the Prem and it will take more than a busted hooter to stop him now

SEAN MORRISON has had to wait five long years to get back to the Premier League.

So it will take much more than a broken nose to keep him out of Cardiff ’s survival bid.

Captain Morrison hurt his hooter in the Bluebirds’ crucial win against Brighton last time out (right).

But there was no chance of him having an op to fix it, knowing that would have led to a mid-season spell on the sidelines.

And there will be no painkillers or protective mask either, with the diehard defender showing the sort of selflessness needed in a relegation battle and ready to put his head in where it hurts for the City cause.

The 27 year-old (applauding fans, above) said: “My nose is a little bit bent now, so it is unfixable until the end of the season.

“It’s shifted over a little bit, so I just have to get on with it. That’s what I’ve been told. If I want to get it fixed in the future I can, but it’s not something you can get done in the season, unless you want to miss games. And that’s not something I want to do. I’m sure it will hurt if I get a whack on it, but the nose is fine and will set. I’ve just got to hope for the best.

“It has taken me 11 years to break my nose, so hopefully another 11 will pass and it won’t be a problem.”

Morrison first burst on to the topflight scene during a “whirlwind” campaign at Reading that saw him attract attention from Arsenal, but it ended with relegation in 2013.

It has been a long road back and he said: “You do think, ‘Am I ever going to make it back there?’ 100 per cent. Five years is a long time – longer than I wanted. I’ve played a lot of Championship football to get myself back and it is something I don’t want to give up easily. I felt like I had unfinished business.”

Morrison learnt some valuable lessons about fighting the drop at Reading. He said: “The majority of what I’ve said to the Cardiff boys is there are going to be times when we might take a heavy defeat. After the Man City game for example they were down. We got pumped 5-0 and it was a bad day at the office. The important thing is not to get caught up in what happens against the top four or five teams because they have so much quality and backing from their clubs.

“You just have to dust yourself down and go again the next week.”

Instead, Morrison says Cardiff’s focus should be on the “mini-league from mid-table downwards”.

Five of their next eight games are against sides in that category, while they don’t face a current top-six team until Tottenham on New Year’s Day.

Ahead of tomorrow’s trip to Everton, he added: “If we can be competitive and show our quality in those games we can give ourselves a chance.

“A lot of people doubt Cardiff can stay up, but we want to prove them wrong. To get relegated with Reading was gutting and it’s something I don’t want to happen again.”