Smith hails hero physio for getting him fit again
Lucy leads title charge for squash
Darren Smith has paid tribute to Stirling Albion physio Kenny Crichton for helping him return to action after a nightmare six months out with injury.
The former Motherwell forward bagged 25 goals last season but a troublesome back problem saw him limited to a handful of substitute appearances until Saturday’s 5-2 win over Elgin City.
Smith bagged a brace on his first start of 2018/19, as well as setting one up for Dylan Mackin, and admits he is delighted to back after enduring a tough time on the sidelines.
The 30-year-old said: “It’s been a long journey. There’s been a lot of hard work and I must give a lot of credit to Kenny Crichton because he’s fought my corner the whole way. He’s stuck his neck out for me and managed to get me a lot of different things. If it wasn’t for him I don’t think I would be here so I’m very grateful.
“My back hasn’t been right since probably towards the end of last season. I was desperate to get promotion but I probably set myself back by playing. I ended up getting an epidural in my lower back and that’s really made a big SEE PAGE 55 difference — since then I’ve been almost pain free for about the first time in five months.
“Beforehand I was waking up in pain every morning and now I don’t feel anything; it’s amazing. Essentially it was a lower back problem but it was also showing itself in my glutes and my groins — just different pains all the time so I feel for anyone who has back pain. I hadn’t experienced that before but it’s a nightmare, it just doesn’t go away no matter what you do.
“Hopefully it’s in the past and I can kick on now. I was a bit tired towards the end on Saturday but I’m delighted to be back. We started so poorly against Elgin but we showed a bit of character to come back and managed to score five really good goals.”