ED Bastick is eager to come back and boost Portland United’s hopes of sealing success this season.

The pacey winger is on the road to recovery, after going under the knife for a hernia operation in the middle of December.

Having taken part in full training with the Blues on Thursday, Bastick was set to go and work with the first team at Alresford Town on Saturday.

But with that game kyboshed due to a frozen pitch, he was set to get some minutes under his belt for the Blues’ reserves at the weekend.

Speaking about the injury, the islanders’ attacking threat admitted he had been feeling the discomfort for some time.

He told Echosport: “Last season I started off really well but was feeling a bit of pain. I disappeared off travelling and thought it would sort itself out.

“I came back in pre-season this season and started feeling it towards 40 minutes into a game.

“It would just seize up.

“You felt like you had the beating of your man and then, after half-time, you think ‘I literally cannot run past him’. Mentally it was draining and annoying, I had to get it sorted in the end.

“I got told I had a hernia and was told to stop playing until it had been sorted.”

Now he is in the rehabilitation process and is looking to get match minutes under his belt, Bastick has set his sights high as part of the Blues’ squad.

Portland currently sit third in the league table at present, 11 points behind leaders Moneyfields with two games in hand.

Bastick believes Moneyfields can still be caught, and that Portland will not give up on chasing them down until it is not possible.

“We have always been winners at Portland and we want to win the league,” he added.

“We just have that mentality in all of us. We will keep going until it is mathematically impossible.

“We will strive to win the league or definitely get in that top three. Our overall aim is the top three but, if we can win the league, it is a bonus.”

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