Picture: George Davidson
It’s bitterly cold and the hailstones have been replaced by a biting wind that forces even the most die-hard fans into the stand.
One of those is sat stretching a knee and wincing from time to time. No complaints but clearly something isn’t right. Stephen Turnbull gets up and wanders around the perimeter of the pitch as his team-mates turn over Sunderland RCA in atrocious wintry conditions. But the Morpeth Town midfielder is there to support as that is all he can do as he faces a near nine-month recovery from knee surgery. It will be a long, painful and frustrating road to recovery, but Twinny remains positive, even if his knee is causing discomfort.
“I’m feeling good and positive,” Turnbull told The Highwaymen.
“On days like Sunderland RCA when it’s bitterly cold, it stiffens up. But I’ve started my rehab and I’ve been in every day with Shawsy (sports therapist Steven Shaw) since and it feels better every day. I’m absolutely devastated about spending so much time with Shawsy! I’m only joking, he’s a top man and a real positive man to be around so when I’m in there, he’s pushing me as hard as he can. It’s going to be a long road to recovery but I could be with a right dull one and be miserable. But with him, you work hard and have a laugh at the same time so I think I am lucky to be doing my rehab with him.”
Getting out on the pitch is one thing, but avoiding the wrath of his fiancee is quite another. The former Blyth Spartan is due to be married at the end of the month and is hoping to be walking without a limp by then.
“Doing all this work with Shawsy, I’m hoping by the time I do get married, I’ll be OK,” continued Turnbull.
“I’m more scared of Shawsy than my fiancee as he is the boss at the minute. As long as I can get fit for the wedding and get down the aisle I’ll be good.”
Turnbull and Shaw will become all too familiar over the coming months, with the latter steering the former to full fitness once again.
“We need to become best friends really as we will literally see each other every day,” Shaw told the Highwaymen.
“Maybe people think that when players are injured they are just sat at home but they work harder than the fit players and are sometimes with me six times a week. Ben Sayer had 25 sessions with me out of 30 days he was missing and Twinny has had 11 sessions in the first 12 days he’s been able to physically drive himself to the gym at the beginning. They need to trust me so to get that trust I’m honest with them throughout. I don’t tell them everything will be OK; I try to get them to do their own homework and I’ll send them bits of research so they know what they need to do themselves. After all it’s them that need to do the hard work; it’s a 24/7 situation. You need buy-in from the player or it just doesn’t work. He’s been very professional and always wants to do more.”
All at the club are hopeful of a quick recovery.
