 |
| Liverpool star Danny Ings will miss England's friendlies with France and Spain |
THE pain in Danny Ings' left-knee is subsiding, the throbbing discomfort receding with every day but the ramifications of his absence from first team football will actually continue to linger in his toes.
The Liverpool striker's focus will momentarily flick from Anfield to Alicante this week, from club to country, prompting good cause to wonder what might have been.
"My dream as a child was to play for England and to represent my country and I got that opportunity," said Ings. "I had just got my foot in the door and all of sudden it was slammed on my toes.
"But I don't think that dream is over for me. I am not one of those guys who gets a cap and I am going to fall away now.
"Hopefully when I am fit I can get back in the manager's thoughts and see where it takes me. He left a voicemail message for me and some texts. It gives me fire in my belly to go again."
It is just three weeks since Ings underwent surgery after tearing his anterior cruciate ligament in his first training session under new Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp and his first since making his England debut against Lithuania.
The timing could hardly have been to worse, but to speak to Ings now, a bundle of positivity rather than pessimism, is to shine a light on the mentality and personality that should help him to scale the heights again.
Long days in rehabilitation at Melwood equate to a shorter spell before he returns to action and, though he is reluctant to put a timescale on his recovery, he is determined to kick a ball again this season.
There is no time to wallow when the daily routine is gym, treatment bed, ice machine and another contraption which, according to the patient, "is firing little stimulants into your muscles getting them going". Ings' perspective is shaped by the struggles earlier in his career.
During his first training session at Burnley, his foot was caught in a divot and he suffered a meniscus injury to his knee.
Go further back and as a 17-year-old at Bournemouth, he couldn't make ends meet on £70-a-week and was forced, with an overwhelming sense of trepidation, to knock on manager Eddie Howe's door and ask for a little extra.
"When I first came through the youth team at Bournemouth, I was only given a three month contract, so there was a lot of pressure on me at the time at 17," said Ings.
"I had moved back to Southampton to my dad's because my digs weren't paid for. Bournemouth were going through a hard time and I was probably the last thing they thought about.
"One of my sisters was at home as well and she had a child. We were only in a little house, so it was needs must.
"The contract that I was on wasn't enough for me to live because I was travelling from Southampton to Bournemouth each day.
"I went to see Eddie and was shaking outside the door. Half of me was saying 'I can't do this, it looks bad.' And half of me was saying, 'You are going to have to'.
"I just said 'Is there any way you can help me out a bit more?'
"I got a little bit of help off the gaffer and I went out on loan to Dorchester.
 |
| Ings playing against Lithuania on his England debut |
"I didn't have that much stress going into games and my spell at Dorchester was unbelievable.
"I still speak to some of the lads now. It's a great club, a place to learn my trade and get knocked about a bit. I came back a man."
Ings maintains his story is hardly unique but perhaps his reaction to adversity is.
Another insight into how seriously he is treating his rehabilitation is he is considering hiring a chef to ensure everything in his recovery is managed carefully.
"When you do get injured that is when you really earn your money because you are in the gym and having to fight to get yourself physically ready to go back in and get back to the standard," said Ings, who is working with Joe Gomez whose own ACL injury came 24-hours earlier than his team-mates.
"Being here at Liverpool it is going to be important to make sure I'm eating right, sleeping right, taking my vitamins, doing my gym work, icing my knee and resting every day.
"Otherwise you are playing catch up. You have to be more dedicated when you are injured because there is more of a mountain to climb to reach the top."
Liverpool's schedule has been so hectic since Klopp took charge that the one positive from the international break that player and manager might see more of each other.
"But I think he knows he doesn't have to worry about me slacking off," said Ings.
Of that there is no doubt. Expect him back on a football pitch, better than ever, sooner than you think.
Post a Comment Blogger Facebook Disqus