Luke Freeman has discussed the injury frustrations which hampered the first half of his loan spell at Nottingham Forest.
The midfielder has recently returned from a couple of months on the sidelines after undergoing surgery on a hernia problem.
But Freeman says the operation was actually required to correct a previous one which had left him in a lot of pain when he first joined the Reds from Sheffield United.
“It’s been very frustrating, to be perfectly honest with you,” the 28-year-old told NottinghamshireLive of his campaign so far.
“I had surgery before I joined the club which I thought had been and gone. But it turned out I had the wrong surgery; the surgery was done wrong.
“I was playing with a lot of pain when I first joined.
“It was only until I went to Germany to see a specialist that we found out exactly what was going on and realised it was completely wrong.
“It was nice to get that redone, get it sorted out, and I’m finally getting back to feeling strong and pain-free, which is massive for me.”
Freeman made his comeback in the FA Cup defeat to Swansea City last month as something of a surprise inclusion in the first XI.
He has built up game time since then, including being in the starting line-up for the last two games, with Chris Hughton’s side drawing 0-0 at home to Bournemouth on Saturday.
“It was a sportsman’s hernia, which basically didn’t get done properly,” he added on his injury issues.
“It was only when they looked at it again that they realised it hadn’t been done properly, so it had to be redone.
“It’s frustrating because you have surgery and think, that’s you done now. You’re thinking maybe there’s a bit of backlash from the surgery you’ve had and it will eventually go.
“But it was getting worse and worse.
“I’m happy to put that behind me.
“I’m really happy to be back in the team, in amongst the lads and feeling fit and strong.”
