Blue Toon striker hopes his eight-month injury nightmare is at an end

Peterhead striker Russell McLean has lifted the lid on the injury nightmare which has seen him sidelined for eight months and had him questioning his career.

McLean has battled back from tendonitis in his ankle and knee, with an operation on the latter resulting in an infection and regular trips to the doctors.

The 24-year-old last played against Dumbarton on April 9, scoring in a 1-1 draw, but struggled to walk afterwards due to the pain.

Due to delays with getting the op done on the NHS, McLean did not undergo surgery until late July and endured setbacks in his recovery.

He was able to resume non-contact training with Peterhead this week as he finally looks to put a nightmare chapter of his life behind him.

“I had tendonitis in my patella tendon in my knee and the doctor asked if I’d had surgery before,” said McLean. “I had an op on my ankle at Montrose and I went back to see the surgeon, who said the bone spur they had removed last time had grown back and it was restricting my movement, which affected my knee.

“They did keyhole surgery last time and said they wanted to do an open surgery this time and I said fine, because I was in that much pain.

“I got the surgery and expected to be out two or three months. But when I got the dressings off after three weeks it was infected, which delayed things by two months.

“My skin was held together by stitches and if I was to do anything which might stretch it, the stitches could burst.

“When the wound got infected, I was going into the doctors every three or four days getting it checked. I felt like an old person, like this is what my grandad had to do every time he got a cut.

“It got frustrating, as the wound wasn’t getting any better. It was my body trying to fight the infection.

When the knee problem seemed to be on the wane, the issue with his ankle flared up again.

“It was a catalogue of disasters,” said McLean. “When I started running again it felt like my ankle had exploded and the physio reckoned it was tendonitis in my ankle.

“It didn’t calm down so I got a cortisone injection and at the moment, I’m as pain-free as I’m going to be.

“When I got the surgery at Montrose it was nine weeks, which wasn’t too bad. But this has been a disaster from start to finish.”

During McLean’s time out, Peterhead have undergone a seismic change off the park with long-serving manager Jim McInally, who signed McLean twice, departing 10 days ago.

“He gave me my opportunity to get back into senior football,” said McLean. “Most boys who’ve played under Jim won’t have a bad word to say about him.”

Russell McLean battled back from tendonitis.