Posted by: Richard Lee 03/08/2008
A Week To Go Now (but a bit longer for me)
A disappointing week on the field for the lads after suffering defeats to Barnet and MK Dons.
I went up to Milton Keynes on Wednesday and despite the defeat there were some encouraging signs for the Palace game next week - although from what I understand there were less promising signs from the Barnet game yesterday.
That being said I remember years gone by where our pre-season games haven't quite gone to plan, in terms of results, and then we've started the season on fire so I don't think it's anything to get overly worried about. It'll be alright on the night as they say!
It's been a tough week for me this week, in and out of training. Our physio Andrew Rolls has been putting me through my paces this week with pool sessions every morning at 8am and not leaving the training ground until 4pm most days; I don't mean that to sound like I feel i've been hard done by as I realise that is pretty much normal working hours but that is quite a long day for a footballer!
I've been doing a mixture of leg weights, upper body weights, cardio work and boxing. I haven't done any boxing for a couple of years and it's been great to get back into it, it's very tiring but fantastic exercise, especially for a goalkeeper. The mixture of speed and strength needed to box are similar to that need to react to a ball coming at you.
The knee itself is improving, the big test for me is as to whether it swells, basically if it swells then the chances are at some point soon i'll need an operation. If the knee continues to stay dry and I continue to build up the power in my thighs, then the idea is that my thighs will take the pressure off the knee joint and I can return without the need of an operation.
If all goes to plan then hopefully I could be back in contention within a couple of weeks, fingers crossed!
Away from training I've been sorting out the apartment I've moved into. I had forgot how stressful moving can be. Thankfully, as of tomorrow, I should be there; that being after I've rang up every company I've ever been associated with to let them know my new address...I'm sure I'll be spending a lot of my day on hold!
With our first official game next week that pretty much means that 'pre-season' is over for us as next week will be preparation for Crystal Palace. It goes without saying that it's been a frustrating one for myself, although I've had my fair share of injuries it's the first pre-season in nine years that i havent taken part in. Thankfully the work I've been doing has been very tough so I'm confident that when I am fit i'll be ready and eager to fight for my place in the team.
A final note regading the Open Day we had today: it was great to see so many fans turn out despite the rain to cheer us on and queue for quite some time to meet us and get our autographs.
It's a real compliment and is very much appreciated by the lads. See ya next week.