Andy Rose speaks about returning to full fitness and his frustration on the sideline after featuring in the U23s win...
Andy Rose has been sidelined following an injury against Bury during first-team duties but returned to action for City's high-flying U23s recently.
Rose played the full 90 minutes, his first appearance since injuring his knee back in August, as Nicky Eaden’s side won 5-3 to open up a two-point gap at the top of the table.
Rose is eying a quick return to the first-team fold. He said: “I’ve been back in full training for about a week now so I’m really happy to be able to get back onto that pitch and play 90 minutes.
“I’ve been able to do quite a lot of fitness the past few weeks so I was certainly ready to feature. Fitness wise I felt great out there, and coming towards the end of the game I still felt able to get up and down the pitch.
“It helped me personally because the game got quite stretched, so in central midfield it tested my fitness. To be able to put myself in those situations was good and hopefully I’ll just get stronger and stronger.
Rose has missed almost two months of competitive action, and will likely be available for selection over the next week as the Sky Blues line up against Rochdale and Walsall.
“I feel I started the season quite well so it was really disappointing when I got injured. It is a frustrating time because you want to be out there playing, knowing you physically can't.
“I feared the worst when it happened because a knee injury can potentially be season-ending and then it is a real test of your mental resolve. As far as knee injuries go, a couple of months is not too bad.”
He added: “I’m looking forward to continuing my progression and trying to get back into the starting XI. It was gutting that I couldn’t help the team throughout the last few months but there is a lot of the season left to play.”