Fighting back Morris back in action with ambitious aims
CHELTENHAM Town Ladies defender Sam Morris made her comeback from a knee injury in the League Cup defeat at Cardiff City Ladies.
Here the former Forest Green Rovers centre-half discusses her return to fitness and her hopes for the rest of the campaign.
How did the injury happen?
I hyperextended my knee in the final minutes of the Luton Town League Cup match when I went up for a corner.
I didn’t think it was too bad, but the next day I literally couldn’t walk. It was a minor injury of the posterior cruciate ligament and lower hamstring, but it put me out for almost five weeks.
How frustrating was it to be be sidelined?
It was so frustrating to be out for that long and to watch from the sidelines because all I wanted to do was play.
How hard did you work to regain fitness?
I started taking some sports collagen given to me by Totally Xenca which was brilliant.
I had Ollie Price, who is our sports therapist for the club, initially assess and he helped lots with my recovery.
I also saw my own physiotherapist at the pain relief clinic in Stroud, who was great.
I was advised it was mainly rest I needed, but was then given specific rehab strengthening and moving exercises.
What was the game at Cardiff City in the League Cup like to play in?
The game between Cardiff and us was great. They’re a well organised team a league above us who are doing well.
They have several international welsh players in their squad and I think we did extremely well to draw 3-3 with them, only for them to score two goals in injury time.
Their facilities were incredible too. It was really nice to play somewhere like that on a great pitch.
We played some good football together as a squad and everyone worked tirelessly the whole game. It was really nice to be back in the squad.
What do you think has been the key to this season’s improvement at Cheltenham Town Ladies?
I think the key has been the hard work we’ve all put in and how we’ve really become close as a unit.
Alex (Cheal, manager) has worked really hard with us this season and brought in several new players too.
We had a really hard pre-season and I think that set us up for our first game.
What is your aim between now and the end of the season?
The aim is to continue working hard with the first team and win as much as we can. We want promotion and we also want to win the County Cup