Elliot kept the faith at Toon

NEWCASTLE keeper Rob Elliot has spoken about the ‘mental battle’ he fought to re-establish himself as a Premier League player.

The 31-year-old spent almost 13 months on the sidelines after damaging knee ligaments while on international duty with the Republic of Ireland in March 2016, returning for the final three games of last season as Newcastle won promotion.

He has retained his place in the top flight and is relishing the opportunity simply to play regularly. ‘Recovering from injury itself is sort of a mental battle,’ said Elliot. ‘It’s the first battle you have to face when coming back from a long injury, just having the strength to do the little things.

‘When you get back fit and are just training every day, you realise what a blessing it is when you can’t do it.’