Laid out on the ground and writhing in agony, Alan Judge was the forgotten man of Copenhagen.
Off the bench after the hour, and into the dying stages of June’s 1-1 draw, the Ipswich midfielder was upended and turfed on his backside.
That sinking feeling immediately came back to haunt him as Judge knew he had just broken his wrist.
As team-mates celebrated a valiant draw on the whistle, he was being attended to just in front of the Irish fans.
He was whisked off to a local hospital where the bone was put back in place.
He then had surgery in Dublin a few days later and today wears the war wound down his left arm.
“I’m not sure how many stitches but I know there are seven screws in there, and a plate - it was a decent break,” he says, eyeing the scar again.
After almost two years out with a badly broken leg and a less than straightforward recovery, you’d be forgiven for labelling Judge as 'injury prone’.
But Judge says: “People say that but I’ve had that one injury and I’ve had the wrist, which isn’t really long term.”
Recalling that night in the Danish capital, Judge said: “I was the last person to kick the ball. I chased it down the side, Jeff Hendrick played me in.
“I crossed it, the whistle went and the Denmark player charged into me. I wasn’t ready because the whistle had gone.
“The minute it happened I knew, as I broke my leg and had similar pain. Not to that extent but I knew.
“It was right in front of the fans and they’re going ninety. I’m lying there in front of them knowing it’s broken. But I still went to Vegas and had a decent summer!
“I’d fall a million times like that in my career. As the gaffer says if I didn’t have bad luck, I’d have no luck at all.
“I’m here now for what I feel are the important games and if Mick needs to use me, I’m ready.”
