I felt so bad to be out 5 months with concussion after my debut but the best way to repay Motherwell is to lift cup for them
Carl ready for battle after fears his career was over
MOTHERWELL skipper Carl McHugh still shudders to contemplate the potentially devastating consequences of a Betfred Cup clash with Celtic. The light the Irish midfielder sees when he leads his side out the end of the Hampden tunnel on Sunday will resonate deep after one of the darkest episodes of his life. Only 12 months ago the 24-year-old was fearful for his future in the game after suffering a head knock on his league debut for the Steelmen at Kilmarnock. Ordinarily, a two-inch gash above the eye would take half a dozen stitches to close the wound and a few days on the couch at home to rest up before medics give the all-clear. But McHugh’s injury, apparently so innocuous at the start, developed into a full-scale trauma that saw him sent him to Donegal and told to forget about football for the foreseeable future. He did eventually return to action, but not for almost five months, when he started in a 2-1 win at Inverness and breathed a huge sigh of relief that his fledgling career would not be compromised after all.
He said: “That was a difficult time and I never thought it would be possible to come back and play in a final. There were even periods I feared I might never play again.
“I was injured in my first league game so my chance to impress the manager, team-mates and supporters was taken away from me. I had the cut on my head but felt at the time I was fine.
“We played Celtic a few days later in the League Cup – we lost 5-0 – and it was just before that I started to develop symptoms such as nausea, headaches and sensitivity to light. I trained the
We beat Rangers in the semi because we weren’t frightened of them CARL McHUGH
day before the game but didn’t feel right and couldn’t put my finger on it. It affected my sleeping, I couldn’t watch telly or even read. Everything was causing headaches and dizziness.
“If my head had not been cut in the Kilmarnock game I would probably have stayed on. That’s the scary thing. You can put yourself in danger if you play on when you are concussed so the scar actually helped me, strange as it sounds.
“I’ve has no setbacks since returning and, please God, that’s me in the clear now but head injuries are a topical talking point in football at the minute and it merits the coverage.
“Until it happened to me I didn’t have a clue about it. I was as ignorant as anyone else. You think, ‘It’s only a bang on the head, you’ll be fine, get on with it.’ I’m just happy I can play again.”
Mark McGhee previously revealed how McHugh, who had only recently joined the Fir Park club from Plymouth, was racked with guilt about being told to take time off so early in his career with the Steelmen.
The only cure was rest and he spent the next two months doing little in Ireland, with even gentle exercise ruled out by specialists.
He added: “I only started to feel better when I went home and didn’t think about football. I concentrated on going about my life normally and once that happened I started to improve.
“An injury like that brings perspective. We all moan about little things but it makes you more appreciative of being able to get up in the morning and train.
“We’re very privileged to earn money from something we love doing. Anyone who plays football for a living is lucky.
“I’ve been fortunate to have support from my family, girlfriend and also the club. Motherwell didn’t put me under any pressure and when I was ready Mark McGhee put me back in the team.
“This would be a good weekend to pay them back. They deserve success on Sunday because the last few years have been tough. However, this year we’ve given the supporters a team they can relate to. We might not win every week but we work so hard and leave everything out there.
“We are an honest group of players and it’s a privilege to play with them. We have quality too and the fans respect all that.”
McHugh is also hoping it will be third time lucky in a major final after losing the League Cup showpiece as a Bradford player, trounced 5-0 by Swansea at Wembley in February 2013.
Last May he was part of the Plymouth squad that lost the League Two play-off final 2-0 to Wimbledon, again at Wembley.
He added: “I was also with Bradford when they beat Northampton to win the League Two play-off final in 2013 but unfortunately I missed that game through injury. It would be a huge achievement for me if I could win this time round. Hopefully I’ll have a little more luck.
“Those previous experiences of big games should help. I’ve played in quite a few for someone my age and while I’m preparing for Sunday’s game I can look back on those matches and see what I did well and what I could have done better.
“I’ll try to use the positives from those games for this one. We can’t have any regrets later.
“You don’t want to be on the losing side in any final and hope to do the business against Celtic.
“We believe because of the way we approach games without any fear. We won at Aberdeen last Saturday and we beat Rangers in the semi-final because we weren’t frightened of them.
“We know what we’re good at and what aspects of our performance are vital to give us a chance of winning and that’s what we focus on.
“You can’t worry about the outcome, you just worry about what you can control.
“And when we’ve done that well this season we’ve got good results.”