Reid gets a head start for Blackburn Rovers opener

2:00pm Monday 14th July 2008

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MIDFIELD dynamo Steven Reid reckons he can hit the ground running as Blackburn Rovers begin their pre-season schedule with a friendly against Macclesfield Town tonight.

The 27-year-old Republic of Ireland international has had a torrid time with injury over the past couple of seasons but is finally injury-free and looking forward to life under new boss Paul Ince.

Reid appeared to be at the peak at his powers in 2006 before a stress fracture in his back, picked up in Ireland’s game against Germany just a month into the season, saw him miss the rest of the year.

But tragedy struck during his rehabilitation in January 2007 when Reid ruptured his cruciate ligament in a freak training ground accident at Brockhall.

It forced Reid to undergo complex surgery and saw him miss the majority of the 2006/07 season and the start of the next season.

But he finally made his return to action as a late substitute in the 2-2 draw at Fulham at the end of November.

Since then, Reid has been striving to improve his match fitness as he takes part in his first pre-season in three seasons.

And Reid admitted he was relishing the weeks of hard work after recovering from injury and revealed that he returned to training for the new season before the rest of the players as he aims to make his mark on the Premier League as he did before his injury jinx struck.

He said: “I couldn’t wait to get started.

“Obviously, I haven’t played a full part in the last couple of pre-seasons, in particular last summer when I missed the whole of it, and it’s always difficult to catch up after that.

“But this season, fingers crossed, I’ll be taking part in every session every day.

“I’ve had talks with the fitness coaches and a couple of lads behind the scenes, and one of the most important things is to get a full pre-season under your belt because it increases your chances of playing a full season injury free.

“Over the last couple of seasons, I haven’t done that and I think that has showed with some of the injuries I’ve ended up picking up.

“You always end up playing a bit of catch up when you don’t get a full pre-season so, hopefully, I can be involved in the full hit and be up to match speed for the first game of the season. ”

And as he prepares to make an impression on new boss Ince at Moss Rose tonight, Reid believes he’s in better shape than he has been in his career.

He added: “I feel as fit now as I’ve done for a while.

"Playing a few games towards the end of last season has obviously helped and hopefully now I’ve got a strong foundation which will enable me to kick on.

“I came in a couple of weeks ago just to get myself ticking over before the rest of the lads came back in.

“I’ve got a full week under my belt so far, which I’m delighted about, and hopefully that will continue over the next few weeks.”