Bolton Wanderers defender Gethin Jones admitted he was 'devastated' to face a spell injured on the sidelines but is glad to be back and hoping the Trotters can build on their recent good form against Scunthorpe United.
The Bolton wing-back suffered ankle joint damage in the victory over Harrogate Town at the start of October.
He spent six weeks on the sidelines before training for a week and was thrust back into the first team in the victory over Salford City.
And he followed it up with another 90 minutes in the win over the weekend against Stevenage.
Jones is being managed differently to his team-mates in light of his injury return, such as being given an extra day off after the Salford game to recover.
He admitted a lot ran through his mind when he suffered the injury against Harrogate, but is glad to return to action to help Wanderers out in a condensed fixture list.
And thoughts have now turned to tomorrow evening's clash on the road against the Iron - with Jones noticing a change in mentality recently within the Wanderers camp.
“I was devastated at the time, everything was going through my mind at that moment," he said.
“My fibula was swollen, we’d had two scans and an X-ray, but luckily it ended up okay and I was able to get back last week.
“I have always been good at keeping my fitness up, so it was just a case of the gaffer and the staff helping after the Salford game – I had an extra day off compared to the other lads for treatment – but I will give everything I can on matchday.
“It’s hard with the games coming thick and fast but with the way we’re playing at the moment we just want to bounce into every one.
“We said in the dressing room ‘let’s just crack on now, get back on the bus happy and start thinking about the Scunthorpe game.’
“The games coming up are looking good. We want to win every game whether it’s top of the league or bottom – such as Salford or Stevenage.
“Everyone is made up at the moment and we’re coming into training with a big smile on our face. It’s different to what it was two or three weeks ago but we know we can’t let it slip."
Jones began the season playing mostly on the right flank, before suffering his injury.
But in the two games played upon his return to the side, Luton Town loanee Peter Kioso has lined up on the right with Jones instead deployed on the left flank.
Jones has played that role previously in his career and insists he will play wherever Ian Evatt wants him to.
Against the Boro, Jones teed up Ali Crawford for what proved to be the winner following Eoin Doyle's opener.
But after Tom Pett netted for Stevenage just before the break, Jones felt the Trotters let the hosts back into the game, but was pleased that Wanderers showed their defensive qualities in the second half.
“I have played left wing-back before when I was on loan at Barnsley, and I know I am not left footed but I am comfortable on that side. Wherever the gaffer wants to play me, I’ll do a job for him. I’m just happy to be out there and playing," he said.
“It’s everyone working together as a group, on the ball, making angles for each other. I think when you do that, as we showed at the start of the game, we can rip teams apart.
“We killed ourselves a bit switching off for a minute or two and let them back into the game but we were pleased we showed the same defensive responsibilities in the second half that we did against Salford last week. If we can keep that up, we’ll be good.
“We were upset we’d let them back into the game because in the first half I felt like we were going to go and beat them three or four nil.
“We have switched off for one minute. We knew they were going to put everything out there in the second half and I think they had four strikers on the pitch at one stage. We dealt with it and we’re made up."
Jones has returned to a Wanderers squad which is at more or less full fitness, with Dennis Politic and Harry Brockbank the only notable absentees at present.
After being one of more than 20 new players to come to the University of Bolton Stadium over the summer, Jones feels the new-look Wanderers squad is starting to gel.
With the competition for places, Jones and his team-mates know they have to be at their best to keep their place in the squad to stay in the starting 11.
He said: “Everyone is back fit now, working hard every day in training. You know if you don’t play well on a Saturday that someone will take your spot.
“We knew it was going to take some time to gel together, signing 20-plus players, so it was always going to be a case of finding the right way to play, how to kill teams off.
"We’re bonding well now so we just need to keep that up and work hard in training."
An aspect of Wanderers training imposed by Evatt has been the infamous 'murderball' training drill made famous by Leeds United boss Marcelo Bielsa.
It is something which Jones admits is 'very intense' - but it is working for Bolton.
“In training we work on murderball, which is very intense. It’s something Leeds do once a week and we want to play the exact same way," he said.
"Once they lose the ball they hunt in packs and if we can do that as far up the pitch as possible we’ll claim our chances.
“We have been looking at that and it’s working for us.”
