FEAR HE WOULD NEVER PLAY AGAIN DROVE CULBERT ON

KNOCKBREDA’S Daniel Culbert feared he would never play football again after having to sit out almost a full year with a knee injury.

The 26-year-old, who previously missed over a year of action with a torn ACL ligament in his right knee, suffered more knee problems 10 months ago but has now played backto-back matches.

“I was playing five-a-side and felt my left knee slide when I slipped, which I knew all about from my previous injury,” Culbert explained to Match On Tuesday.

“I’d torn the ACL of my right knee before and that time there was a lot of pain, but this one was different and when I went for a scan, it gave me the all-clear.

“But it was in my head that this was a vulnerability and whilst I didn’t need surgery this time round, I knew I’d need a lot of physio work and to be doing a lot of exercises in the gym to build it up.

“I tried to keep myself running a lot and doing a lot of gym c l asses, b u tit wasn’t until January that I felt confident enough to get back into training sessions.

“I played for the reserves a few times then I was back into the first team against Loughgall last week for the first time in 10 months.

“I got 90 minutes under my belt and I felt really well after it, so that’s a massive boost.”

Culbert (pictured right celebrating a goal) has been playing in midfield for the East Belfast outfit, having previously played as a defender at Queen’s University and Larne.

“When you’re out injured, you feel very isolated and you really miss being part of a team,” continued the versatile midfielder.

“That’s why when I finally got back into training that I started to feel more like myself again and trying to get back into my routine.

“When I was in the tunnel against Loughgall for my first game back I felt really nervous as I didn’t know if I’d play football again or not. But as soon as I got back on to the pitch I wasn’t nervous at all and I felt so grateful to be walking out on to the pitch, and it was a bit more special because my family were down too.

“It was great to soak in the experience of playing again but it did feel a little strange.

“Even the kit was new for me, so I was giving off about the size of the shorts.

“When you’ve been playing for a few years and gone through bad injuries, you stop taking games and training

sessions for granted and start to savour it a bit more.

“I’ve tried to make sacrifices to get football back into my life, cutting out alcohol and making that extra effort, so I’m loving being back and helping out the team again.”

Since the player’s return to the pitch, Knockbreda have secured backto-back away draws and, despite sitting ninth in the standings, sit just two points above a relegation play-off spot.

“We’re frustrated by those two draws, because we could have taken six points from them rather than two,” added Culbert.

“On Saturday we conceded within 10 seconds of the start of the match and that knocks your gameplan back and means you’re having to chase the game a bit.

“But our form away from home this season has generally been quite good but we’ve struggled at Breda Park.

“We’ve got the 11th worst home record in the division and that’s not good enough. We’ve got home games against Limavady and PSNI coming up which are both massive for our season, so we really need to address that record and get points on the board.

“If we can pick up six points from those games we would be in a really strong position, but there are four teams battling to avoid two places.

“We know form is very important in this division and we have been playing well recently, so we are confident we can do the business.”