CAMBULLSEYE!
Tyrese on target again after grim year out
STOKE CITY 2
Vrancic 3, Campbell 90+6 PETERBOROUGH 0
A YEAR of hurt was wiped away when Tyrese Campbell scored his first post-rehab goal.
Twelve months of ice packs and physiotherapy forgotten in the moment it took to hit the back of the net and hear the fans roar their delight.
Stoke striker Campbell, whose injury-time strike cemented a third successive victory, is back in the old routine and intends to make the most of it.
He said: “I’m buzzing! It was a long time that I have been craving again, to have the fans back, scoring for them again, it was unbelievable. No words explain it.
“When I look back at my journey and my rehab it’s one big blur. I was more unlucky than most with what went on but that’s life, it’s part and parcel of being a footballer.
“You play the game, you get injured. I’m just happy that I could come back and get somewhere close to my normal self.”
At the final whistle Campbell was lifted into the air by teammate Josh Tymon. It appears he is as popular in the dressing room as he is with the fans.
Damaging a knee last December has tested his character and Campbell (right) has passed with flying colours.
He said: “It’s hard when you are at home, lying on the couch, icing up, going through a series of exercises to get your leg straight, for example.”
Campbell’s reintroduction to the first team has been gradual and he is still very much a substitute.
He accepts that there is still a way to go, although there was a glimpse of the old Campbell when he sparked a breakaway in injury time, held off two defenders and finished in style. He said: “It’s taken me a while to get back to it.
“I don’t feel as if I’m
100 percent but
I’m getting closer and there is more to come. As a striker it is my job to score goals and the first one after so long is amazing. I hope it has done me the world of good.”
Posh should have taken something from the match and manager Darren Ferguson said: “It is not often you lose a game and get a standing ovation from your supporters. The players know that if we can keep that level of performance and improve on that last bit, we will win games.”