“IT WAS a big pop, a bit of a scream but I got up within five minutes and walked off. I didn’t realise it would be that bad.”

When Dorchester’s Ross Carmichael damaged his knee in a training match in March 2019, the centre-back could not have predicted the severity of his injury.

Little did he know, Carmichael had seriously injured both his anterior cruciate and medial collateral ligaments, also sustaining cartilage damage.

Carmichael, who has made 78 career Magpies appearances, was caught up in a three-man challenge.

After showing attacking midfielder Antonio Diaz down the line, Carmichael was then felled by a sliding Neil Martin.

Martin’s tackle brought down both men but Carmichael was unhurt until Diaz landed on his knee.

Recalling the incident, Carmichael said: “It was at the end of a training session with Dorch – it was a freak accident.

“I was ushering Antonio down the line and I think Neil came in and tackled him. He just fell on my knee.

“It was a big pop, a bit of a scream but I got up within five minutes and walked off. I didn’t realise it would be that bad.

“I thought it might just be my MCL, but in the end it was the MCL and my ACL and it was my cartilage – the whole lot.”

Carmichael missed the final part of the 2018/19 season while Dorchester assessed the injury.

When scan results revealed the magnitude of the harm caused, Carmichael required surgery.

Before going under the knife, the former Portland defender continued to train with Dorchester to strengthen his knee in pre-season, despite being a free agent.

Mentally, though, involvement in a football environment took its toll for a player who knew months of rehab were on the horizon.

“They always offered me the rehab, which to begin with I took,” he said.

“Then I just felt it difficult to be around football and not being able to play. I just had to take a step back, do the rehab on my own and go to the gym by myself.

“I’ve kept a close eye on Dorchester’s scores. They’ve not had the best season and it just makes you want to play, give them a hand; it is annoying.”

Carmichael, who has pencilled in a return to full fitness for pre-season this summer, admitted the lengthy recovery time “does get to you”.

He said: “To begin with, it’s just the rest you need to do for three months.

“Within six weeks I was back on a bike, but you’re not putting pressure on your knee.

“Even the six-week wait is killing you inside, not being able to do anything.

“Watching all your teammates going out and playing football and you’re just sat there in a gym on your bike.

“Because of the length of the recovery, it does get to you. Now I can see light at the end of the tunnel.”

Those chinks of light have come in the success of the operation, plus running activity – but the defender still has plenty of rehab ahead before a full comeback – coronavirus permitting.

He said: “It’s getting along. I’ve still got another three months of rehab before I can fully start competing.

“Physically, my knee’s better but over the last nine months it’s been mentally really tough just to keep focused.

“You don’t know whether you’re going to play again, how your knee’s going to react to the operation.

“Mentally it’s been difficult but it’s feeling good, my knee. I’ve been going on runs but it’s going to be when I get back to playing football and the turning, but it’s going well.”

Amid the current lockdown to prevent the spread of COVID-19, Carmichael’s rehab has not been interrupted.

He said: “I’m still working from home so I’ll go out on my lunch break or after work for an hour’s run and I’ve got dumbbells at home.

“It’s just doing what everybody else is doing, trying to stay positively fit and looking to the future.

“It’s crazy times and you just hope everybody sticks to the lockdown and gets out of it safe.”

With football in suspension during the coronavirus crisis, there is no defining time for play to resume.

But here’s hoping the sport, and Carmichael, can make a comeback as soon as possible.

CONTACT ME:

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@dorsetecho.co.uk

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