I cried when they told me how long I’d be out
THE memory is enough to wipe the smile off Nathan Dyer’s face. It is soon replaced by a grimace. He may have just played 58 minutes on his comeback from a serious Achilles injury – his relief is palpable – but the hurt at the time lost at such a key stage in his career is equally tangible all these months later.
Back in February he had been handed the chance he had worked and yearned for. He was back in Paul Clement’s plans and he was facing his former club Leicester.
He had a point to prove, the frustration of an injury-hit season to put behind him. This was his chance, he was determined to take it.
Just seven minutes later his campaign would be over in cruel fashion.
Dyer knew it was bad the moment he felt the pain shoot up the back of his leg, he struggled to suppress the tears as he was helped off, with old boss Claudio Ranieri giving him a handshake and a pat on the back in an effort to offer some comfort.
All he could do was hope it was not as serious as he feared. He was trying to re-establish himself at the Liberty after falling out of favour under Garry Monk.
This was the last thing he needed, and the confirmation of Dyer’s worse fears when he received the results of a scan left the 29-year-old desolate.
“It was hard. When I came in after the injury, we had it scanned and you just hope it will be okay.
“You worry so much and when I came in and they told me it was six to nine months out, I am not going lie, I cried,” said Dyer after playing 58 minutes for the Under-23s against Manchester City on Friday night.
“I had worked so hard to get back into the fold, to get a chance under the new manager and in my first start for a while I had lasted just seven minutes.
“It is hard, I was lucky that I have such a great family around me. My wife and kids and the support of the football club helped me get through some tough times, and they really were tough times. It was lonely, even though I saw the boys and the manager, you are not involved, you are on the outside looking in. There is nothing worse. You see the lads go out to train and you just want to be out there too.
“Instead you know it will be ages until you can do that, they are low moments.
“But this is a fresh start for me, I missed quite a lot of work with the gaffer when he first came in but I loved the way he works and goes about things.
“He is so professional, has a lot of knowledge and it will only improve me.
“I just have to get in the whereabouts of that squad, to improve my awareness and get up to speed and continue to push on.”
Months and months of hard, lonely rehabilitation lay ahead for Dyer, as well as the agony of having to watch helplessly as the Swans battled the drop.
The nature of Dyer’s injury meant he had to rebuild his mobility from the ground up, taking any number of measures to ease the pressure on the injury. It made for a frustrating time for the former Southampton man, and he was grateful for the chance to join the rest of the first-team squad in America to alleviate some of the boredom of continually slogging away on his own.
“You start from the ground up really, because your Achilles is obviously key to your mobility,” said Dyer.
“I had a cast for a fortnight and then had a boot for another four weeks, which I had to wear at all times, even to sleep.
“It was just a case of taking my ankle down step by step until it could be continually flat.
“I had to walk in the boot, and then when that came off I had to wear wedges in my shoes to try and keep some pressure off it.
“After that, I had to do nothing and completely rest for a fortnight because that is the stage where if you try to do too much, too soon.
“You have to be patient and let it run its course and heal, there were some dark moments.”