Having to work all day because I was out injured really gave me the Frear
IT wasn’t until he got crocked playing against Rangers on the opening weekend of the Premiership campaign that Elliott Frear realised his working day amounted to more than a couple of hours.
The Motherwell winger had never been sidelined until that point and was used to clocking off at lunchtime after training.
However, he has spent the last three weeks putting in nine-hour shifts as part of the rehab on his knee injury and now he’s ready to feature against Hearts at Fir Park this afternoon.
Frear said: “It feels like I’ve been working full-time just to get fit.
“I’d be at the pool in the gym for 8am with club physio Aileen to do some work and then I’d get treatment from the ultrasound machine. You’re used to being home early but I’d be in here until 4.30 or 5pm and my missus, who also works, would be home before me but I kept myself fit.
“When I first did it the physio mentioned four weeks out and I hoped it would only be two. It was horrendous being out.
“It’s horrible to watch. I could see it from a supporter’s perspective. I’d be watching the game in the stand with Mick
[Stephen] McManus. He’d be pointing things out and taking notes. That was good in a way but I’ve had plenty of it now.”
Frear had started the season on fire, scoring the winner in two of Well’s BetFred Cup group ties, and that made his lay-off even harder to take.
He added: “It was doubly frustrating because I felt like I’d started the season well. On top of that I’ve never, ever been injured before. I’ve never even pulled a muscle, which isn’t bad going at my age.
“So it was all new for me. I didn’t realise how hard the physios had to work! It was round-the-clock stuff.
“They really helped me out and hopefully I can pick up where I left off. The gaffer wants me to play now as a wing-back and I know a lot more about the position now in a defensive and attacking sense.”
Steven Robinson’s side have won six of their eight games so far and Frear can’t wait to get back into the saddle this afternoon.
He said: “I feel good. I’ve trained in the last few days and there doesn’t seem to have been any sort of adverse reaction.
“I’m looking forward to being involved on Saturday. We’ve had an excellent start, apart from the first half against Ross County last Saturday.
“Ideally by beating Hearts we can start to make the place a fortress. They’re a massive club up here in Scotland but we want to get right into them.
“We’ll be ready. We’ve watched them and we’ll be going into this one full of confidence.”