James Maddison relives "amazing moment" which comes after his 12 month injury nightmare and lowest point of career
James Maddison has revealed the “dark days” during his 12-month injury nightmare. Tottenham midfielder Maddison suffered an ACL knee ligament injury last May and it has been torture for him to have to sit on the sidelines through a nightmare season.
But Maddison returned for a substitute appearance against Leeds and said the reception from the fans will "live with him forever.”
Maddison also got a huge hug from Leeds boss Daniel Farke - who managed him at Norwich - in a really touching moment on the sidelines before he came on.
England star Maddison said: “It was an amazing moment that will live with me forever, the reception I got today. It's been some dark days in the last year, especially since the surgery. It's been a really tough year for me mentally.
“But I'm at the end of the tunnel now so I can kind of look back on that with fondness because I'm as mentally strong as I can be after going through it.
“Physically I feel really good. So the moment personally with something that will live with me forever, the reception.
“There was never any doubt about getting back. It was more just the sadness of what I would miss and for the longevity of it.
“I knew once I'd had the surgery and these days there's so much research and work that's gone into ACL injuries. It's the most common, it's the most researched injury there is.
“So it's actually quite simple rehab. It's a real grind and it's long and it's hard but it's not very tricky because of the amount of research that's gone into it.
“So I just had to do the work. There's no corners cut. So there was never any doubt about getting back. Some tough days mentally to get up to do the work when the light at the end of the tunnel was just not in sight.
“My partner, my parents, my children, the physios, the players, everyone helped me through it. Sometimes you've just got to deal with it yourself as well. The dark days are sometimes the worst days. Some of the worst days is when we've had highs as well.
“When the team are away winning in the Champions League and stuff and you're just not part of it as well. That's tough as well. So many tough moments but proud of myself for how hard I've worked to get back to this position to be able to come back and play in the Premier League.”
Maddison actually revealed the injury dated back to last May when an outside specialist told him that he had suffered a partial tear which did not need surgery only for the injury to get worse in pre-season.
He said: “In my head it goes back to the Europa League semi here when I got injured here because I did a partial ACL tear here against Bodo Glimt, which I was told by the specialist wouldn't need surgery and rehab.
“And then obviously it just didn't recover properly and I needed the full surgery, which was what happened in South Korea. So in my head it's not really like that.”
Maddison now hopes his return will spark Tottenham’s fight for survival as they are now in a head-to-head with West Ham as to who stays up.
He added: “You watch from a lens of like ‘what would I be doing?’ I'd be helping, what could I do differently? It's been a tough season hasn't it?
“Really tough for the fans, really tough for the players. Lots of manager changes. It's been a season to forget really and not being able to affect it and actually help the club has been difficult.”
Spurs midfielder Joao Palhinha said: “I think it’s been a really tough season, but I think we are much better than most of the teams that are in front of us.
“The season was not the best, that’s true, but I think this team has all the capacity to turn this situation because we have been showing I think we are improving a lot.
“And yeah, I think we are always fighting for the same, to keep the club in the Premier League because it’s where it belongs.”
Feyanptuy
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msddies safe us plz