Ben: Foxy and I have done all we can – now we’re ready
Burton Albion are hoping to extend the loans of Bradley Collins (main picture) and Jake Hesketh (inset, top) until the end of the season. But there is unlikely to be a new loan deal for Jake Flannigan (above) after a recurrence of his knee injury saw him forced to return to Southampton. BEN Turner says he feels fitter now than before a spell out with injury – and he is ready to rediscover his “match fitness” with Burton Albion.
The Brewers centre-back missed 10 games in all competitions after sustaining a calf injury in October’s 3-2 win at Plymouth Argyle, before returning off the bench to help his side claim a 2-1 victory over Shrewsbury Town on Saturday.
A further 60-minute outing in the Central League Cup on Tuesday provided further game time for Turner, who says he is now “absolutely ready” if and when Nigel Clough wants him back in the team.
Turner and Ben Fox – who was kept out for a month with a hamstring problem before Tuesday’s reserve game – have done extensive work together on the road to recovery, meaning the former Cardiff City man feels in fine shape ahead of this weekend’s trip to Fleetwood Town.
“Obviously, I don’t know what personnel the manager is going to pick over the next month but, personally, I’m available now,” said Turner, who started 12 of Albion’s first 13 League games in 2018-19.
“I’ve worked very hard, both on the rehab for my calf and to keep my fitness right.
“I think I’ve improved my fitness while I’ve missed the six weeks.
“I’ve really nailed down some good work in the gym, some good work on the pitch with the physio and with Foxy.
“Obviously, that’s not match fitness, that’s different.
“But whenever the manager needs me again, I’m absolutely ready.”
While stamina and energy levels are crucial in professional football, players and managers also talk about “match fitness” as a different entity, something that can only be fine-tuned in a real match scenario, rather than on the training ground, in the gym or even practice games.
So what does Turner, a player with more than 300 competitive appearances under his belt and approaching the 100 mark for Burton Albion, see as the difference?
“You can run and run and run, you can do as much in the gym and get your cardio system as strong as you can, which the likes of me and Foxy have,” he said.
“But match fitness is the fitness while reacting to stimulus, which is the ball and your player and where’s the man you are marking and where are your team-mates?
“People call it match fitness, it’s more sharpness and getting your reactions to a football match back. That is the difference.
“Me and Foxy are fit, absolutely fit – compared to the man on the street, we are fit.
“But it’s just getting those reactions right and your timing and sharpness back in a match environment.
“We’ve not been out that long. You are talking weeks to a month of actually not being on a football pitch, that’s all we’ve really missed.
“But like I say, the gaffer knows what’s best and when he sees fit to put us back in, we’ve done everything we can and we’re ready.”