TALKING ST MIRREN Morgytakes no pain, no gain to the next level...
LEWIS MORGAN has insisted he will play in pain to assist in St Mirren’s mission to remain in the Championship despite being told his season was over.
The Paisley side’s medical team were convinced Morgan would not kick another ball in the campaign after a bonecrunching collision with Mike Rose in the 6-2 demolition of Ayr United on April 1.
However, the 20-year-old has made a mockery of that prognosis after coming back just two weeks later.
His season was resurrected on Easter weekend when he got the last nine minutes in the 2-2 draw at Falkirk.
And even though he’s in pain every time he kicks the ball, he’s desperate to play his part in what would be a great escape.
The 20-year-old winger said: “The doctors think I have just got lucky because they’re not really sure how I managed to get back so quick. At the time of the injury I feared the worst and I thought my season was over.
“The pain was quite intense all Saturday night after the Ayr game and my ankle was up like a balloon. The pain was immense. It ran all the way down my leg from the kneecap down.
“Even after the first set of scans it was still felt I wouldn’t play again in the campaign. So I’m not really sure how I’m back so early. As a result of the bone bruising it still hurts when I kick the ball but I know I’m not doing any more damage. I have to continue through the pain.
“The physio had been working me hard and we decided on Saturday morning that I was able to go on the bench and step in if needed.”
Morgan, who earned his first Scotland Under-21 call-up in March, revealed experienced midfielder Rocco Quinn has been a massive help and says it’s about dealing with it mentally.
He said: “Rocco had a similar injury earlier in the season and he has been helping me. He gave me the confidence that although it’s painful when kicking the ball, there will be no more damage done. It has been a mental thing more than anything else. I was trying to kick a ball in my garden and it was really sore.
“However, once I knew that I wasn’t making the situation any worse I thought I would just crack on with it.”
ST MIRREN are in eighth position but only on goal difference from Dumbarton in ninth and three points ahead of bottom club Ayr, having been seven points adrift at Christmas.
Now they have three games to preserve their status, starting with a trip to Dundee United on Saturday.
Morgan added: “I want to play my part in the run-in. I didn’t want my season to just peter out. Every game is massive now. We have three huge matches that will decide the future of the club but if we play as we have been we will be fine.
“We should have taken something from Tannadice when we played up there before Christmas but we ran out of steam a wee bit.
“We beat them the last time we faced each other in the league and we are playing a lot better than we were in December so we are confident we can go there and get a result.”
I’m not really sure how I’m back so early... My ankle was up like a balloon
to where he is now. Four hundred and fifty miles, to be exact. It’s hard to comprehend that it was just four years ago the wiry winger left Motherwell to pursue his career at Sheffield United. The club’s top European goalscorer is still fondly remembered by the Well faithful.
“Obviously I’ve come a long way from Fir Park and then moving down to Sheffield, but I’ve enjoyed every minute of it,” said Murphy. “Sometimes you think ‘is all the hard work worth it?’ but days like Monday shows all he training, running and work is.
“I tried to go as far as my ability would take me, whether that was the Premier League or to stay in Scotland.’