Winger opens up to HTTV about missing start of season through injury
- Huddersfield Town B vs Salford City
- Wednesday 19 January, 1pm
- Pat Jones previews match with HTTV
Town B Team winger Pat Jones sat down with HTTV to discuss his comeback from injury as his side prepare to face Salford City in a behind closed doors friendly at Canalside on Wednesday.
Kicking off at 1pm at Town’s training complex, it’s a second game back from injury for the highly-rated Jones, who has missed the majority of the 2021/22 season so far with a complex injury within his feet.
Making a sharp rise from non-league to Welsh League football and then finally to Wrexham before signing for Town, last season saw Jones step up and make his debut for the First Team in the Championship under Carlos Corberán.
Having made his first appearance since regaining full fitness against Fleetwood for the B Team, these are significant milestones on Pat’s rehabilitation journey – something he discusses in length with HTTV in length.
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Discussing his comeback from injury, Jones couldn’t help but reflect on how difficult the period had been for his as he went through the process of recovering properly.
“I’m really pleased to be back out on the pitch. It’s been a long time, and quite a difficult period for me, but I’m just really pleased to be back out there and have that buzz of playing football again.
“It was a little thing at the bottom of my feet called sesamoiditis, and I actually suffered with it in both of my feet. It’s quite similar to what Aaron Rowe had. I struggled with it towards the back end of last season, and then it ended up reoccurring three or four times, and it was really difficult and really painful for quite a while.
“It takes a long time to heal, and anyone who’s had anything similar will know that it can be a real pain. I think I’m over the worst of it now and put it behind me, I’m just looking forward to playing full time.
“The rehab process was really difficult, especially the first six weeks when I was in a boot. You’re not always in a good place mentally and you can go to a bad place at times, but you have to get on with it and roll up your sleeves. It’s really hard watching the lads going out to watch the lads train and play because that’s all you want to do because mentally you think you’re okay to do it, but you’re not really.
“It’s heart breaking a lot of the time, but you take the small victories – when you get on the grass or back to kicking a ball, and that means a lot to you. There are difficult moments, but I’m better for it now.”
Talking more about what’s to come now he’s back playing, Pat opened up about how his first game back felt and his aspirations of playing for the Town First Team and progressing toward the senior Welsh squad, with whom he’s already played at both u17 and u19 level.
“It was nice. Odd really, because I haven’t played properly for around 10 months or so. It was really pleasing, especially after it, because I’d come through it and it was good to be back out there and have that feeling of putting your kit on and things like that.
“Once I feel I’m back to myself and at 100% then the First Team is my end aim, and I know I can get there. It might just be a matter of time, but that’s my goal.
“You see a lot of the younger academy lads in and around the First Team now and that’s really pleasing. I know I’ve got the capabilities to be there, it’s just getting myself in to a position now where I’m fully fit and able to.
“Following in Sorba’s footsteps and playing for Wales is something you can look to and be something you want to do at some point. I think it would be good if one day both of us were playing on the wings for Wales. It shows you can get there if you do well enough in the Championship, you’ll get a chance. It’s definitely an aspiration of mine.”
Looking forward to the B Team’s game against Salford, Jones admitted that the side weren’t happy with their performance against Fleetwood last time out, and will be going in to this game looking to rectify that.
“We were a bit disappointed last week with the result. It was a difficult game – we had a lots of lads that weren’t available and a few coming back from injuries so it was a bit of a mix and we didn’t have a great performance.
“The lads are ready to play and we just want to rectify that result a little bit. We know we can do better than we did last week. For myself, I’m just getting minutes in the tank. We’re looking forward to it and we’ll be ready.”
Jones is in a strong B Team squad to face Fleetwood at Canalside, which will be covered in full on our Academy page on Twitter and be followed by a full match report. Unfortunately, due to ongoing Covid-19 restrictions, this match will again be played behind closed doors.
