Four months for our key player

Nathan Tyson is slowly adjusting to his injury nightmare and is counting the days until he is back scoring goals again.

He may be a month into his lay-off – and a month closer to his eagerly-awaited return -but Nathan Tyson is still struggling to come to terms with the fact that he has been forced to put his City Ground career on hold.

Our League One campaign was just two minutes old when our much-feared striker sustained a knee ligament injury that is likely to sideline him for four months.

Tyson tore the medial ligament in his left knee in falling awkwardly after a typically scintillating run had taken him past three Bradford players.

He will not have to undergo surgery but must spend another month in a knee brace before his rehabilitation work begins in earnest.

‘I still haven’t got my head around the fact that I will be out of action for a while,’ he reveals. ‘I’ve had the odd knock here and there and been out for two or three weeks but I’ve never had anything on this scale.

‘The thought of being out for four months is daunting to be honest but it’s a reality and there’s nothing I can do about it.

‘No offence to my wife and children but boredom has set in already because I can’t do anything.

‘Once the kids go back to school you might well find me on the banks of the Trent fishing because you don’t need to be that mobile to do that.

‘I just about manage to get around ASDA to do the shop but after a while my hands start to hurt because I’m on crutches.’

Tyson admits alarm bells started ringing in his head as soon as he collapsed in the Bradford penalty area.

‘I just felt a thud in the knee – it was like someone had punched me there,’ he recalls. ‘I came off for treatment and told our physio Gary Fleming I would be okay to carry on.

‘But as soon as I tried to jog up and down the side of the pitch my knee wasn’t having any of it – it just buckled and then I remembered thinking to myself ‘what I have done here?’

‘I was praying it was only a tear, which would have meant four to six weeks out, but when the results of the scan came through I was devastated.

‘I’m just glad that I got through pre-season and got that over and done with because hopefully that will stand me in good stead when I’m ready to play again.’

The injury setback has forced Tyson to readjust his targets for the campaign. The 24 year old had been looking to bag 10 goals by October and take his tally to the season beyond the 23 he scored in all competitions last term.

‘My dad has told me I can still make that target of 24, assuming I get back in the side when I’m fully fit.

‘He likes to put me under a bit of pressure but I’ll be setting myself a few targets when I’m fit again ? but getting to that stage is the number one priority at the moment.’


credit Nottingham Forest offical website