Dan Dodds is relishing the challenge of pre-season, having now entered the final stages of his rehabilitation programme.
The defender has spent 299 days on the sidelines following his ACL injury sustained against Fylde at the back end of last August.
Following his surgery, Dodds immediately looked towards a pre-season return and he has revealed positive news in a recent injury update.
“It’s been a long process and I’m still on track,” Dodds explained.
“I’m nine months in now and I’m feeling good. I’ve been in the gym nearly every day since I started my rehab, and I’ve been building my running up over the last three months.
“It’s hard to get match realism, so over the last few weeks it’s just been about getting some sharpness back with one-to-one sessions.
“My knee is feeling fine. I’ve done a lot of work on it and the plan has always been to use pre-season as that final stage in my rehabilitation programme. Obviously it’ll have to be monitored very closely over the next month, I can’t jump straight back into things, but I’m hopeful it’ll be ready come August time.
“The plan is to return to full training on the first day of pre-season. I’m currently doing a lot of work independently to get up to that load where we’ll be doing two or three sessions a day.
“We’ll have to use the first training sessions as a guideline. I don’t think I’ll play too much of a part in the early friendlies, but as time goes on hopefully I’ll be able to get some minutes in the bank.”
Dodds has also met new manager Darren Sarll several times ahead of the new season, which starts on Saturday 10th August.
“Our conversations have been really positive,” Dodds continued.
“I met the gaffer at the training ground during the first week he joined, he checked up on my injury, and I’ve spoken to him a few times since then.
“He wants me to be as fit as possible. There’ll be a lot of running in pre-season to make sure the squad is in a good condition, and I’m feeling ready for it.
“On a personal note, it’s hard to set any objectives for the season. It’s more about looking on a short-term scale for now, my biggest priority is getting through my first game.
“We started really well last year and my injury was heartbreaking. It’s been a long journey since then, nearly 10 months, but I can’t wait be back out there.”
Meanwhile, Anthony Mancini is set to report back to the Club for the start of pre-season after recovering from his groin injury in his native France.
