Sydney FC young gun Rhyan Grant is hoping to be back to full fitness in time for the Sky Blues blockbuster friendly against Everton in July.
Sydney FC young-gun Rhyan Grant is hoping to be back to full fitness in time for the Sky Blues blockbuster friendly against Everton in July at ANZ Stadium.
Grant is one of the club-s rising stars, and played a key role in Sydney FC-s National Youth League success of 2008/09 before going on to represent the Young Socceroos at the U20 FIFA World Cup in Egypt last year.
However the 19-year-old-s stunning progress was halted after he suffered a season ending ankle injury during a training session in February.
After undergoing surgery, Grant has been working hard with Sydney FC medical staff and whilst on the road to recover, he has set his sights set on the clash with Tim Cahill-s Everton for a possible return.
“I want to be back by the start of the season definitely but maybe the Everton game would be a good goal for me to try and get back by then,” Grant said.
“I-m towards the back end of the rehab so it-s starting to come good. I think I-ve got another three or four weeks until I can run again but I-m not sure when I-ll be 100%. Hopefully it will only be another month or month and half.
“The strength-s not there at the moment so there are things that I-ll think I can do but I-ll have to pull up because I-m struggling or I-ll give way every now and then.”
Despite the seriousness of the injury, Grant is somewhat grateful for the timing.
“It was a bit disappointing at the time but it was good to get it during the offseason to try and get fit for next season,” he said.
Grant is focussed on playing a big part in Sydney FC-s title defence in 2010/11 after having a disrupted campaign last time around.
He had just forced his way into Vitezslav Lavicka-s first XI before he was selected to represent the Young Socceroos in Egypt last September.
The impressive form of his teammates made it difficult for Grant to reclaim his spot in a winning Sydney FC side, but the youngster is hoping to have more of an impact this year.
“It was awesome to go to the World Cup and represent Australia there so that was a good experience in itself but it was a bit of a disruption in the club side of things and I wasn-t involved in as many games as I would have liked to be,” Grant said.
“Hopefully this year I can try and secure a spot and stay consistent in the team.”
Grant also paid tribute to his teammates and the club-s medical staff for helping him through his recovery.
“The doctor from Sydney FC was good to me, he got me into surgery as soon as possible and he was even in the surgery when I got the screws removed,” Grant said.
“The boys have been nice as well and given me a bit of confidence telling me that I-ll come back bigger and better.”
