Falkingham on way back after fracture

PARS: Midfielder hopes to return against Airdrie

Towards the end of the training sessions it blew up and at that stage I knew it wasn’t just a bang, it was something more serious.

JOSH FALKINGHAM

The Dunfermline midfielder Josh Falkingham is delighted to be back in contention for a first team recall just six weeks after fracturing his back.

The 25-year-old is today hopeful of returning to action at Airdrie, the team he suffered the injury against on September 26.

After initially hoping the pain of the knock would subside, Falkingham knew the problem was more serious when he aggravated his back in training.

A scan revealed he had fractured a bone.

Falkingham, who has featured twice for the Pars under-20s in recent weeks and was an unused substitute in last weekend’s goal-less draw with Peterhead, said: “It’s been a frustrating time for me. I hate missing football, no matter what.

“We never knew it was as bad as it was to begin with. I trained on the Thursday because I was pushing to get back fit for the Petrofac Training Cup game against St Mirren (on October 10).

“Towards the end of the training sessions it blew up and at that stage I knew it wasn’t just a bang, it was something more serious.

“We managed to get the scan, and then the phone call came through.

“With it being fractured, the physio was good and spoke me through it because whenever someone mentions your back, your worried.

“I’m quite intense and like to ask questions. He explained to me exactly what it was. It wasn’t actually the vertebrae, it’s a little bone just off it.

“I had a crack in one of them that was causing me problems. It stemmed from a nothing thing in the Airdrie game.

“It was a knee into the bottom of the back and this is what it ended up being.”

Falkingham stepped up his rehabilitation in development squad matches against both Hibs and Partick Thistle but said there was very little he could do during the early stages of his recovery.

He said: “With the injury I had you couldn’t push it, test it or anything.

“You had to leave it and let the bone heal.

“It was complete rest and letting the bone heal.

“I was in training doing some work on the bike, and I managed to get home to see my family for a couple of days as well.

“But for the first few weeks it was about resting.

“I am feeling good now. That’s two games I’ve got under my belt. I’m just getting back into it and I’ve had two full weeks of training.”

Falkingham has not played for a total of six matches, and in that time Allan Johnston’s side have been replaced at the League One summit by Ayr United.

The former Arbroath playmaker is desperate to make up for lost time.

He added: “It’s been a bit of a frustrating start to the season for me.

“It’s about kick-starting my season now, and hopefully I can forget about what has happened.”

Josh Falkingham is looking to kickstart his season after his painful injury.