Linfield Josh Robinson delighted to have put his injury nightmare behind him

The emotion was there for all to see at Windsor Park on Saturday as the big defender struck late on to earn the Blues all three points against Larne.

It was not only a big goal in terms of the title race, but also for Robinson personally after a frustrating six month battle with injury.

The former Crusaders man missed out on the Blues incredible European run but now he’s back, pain-free and determined to make up for lost time.

“I picked up the injury last season in the game when we more-or-less won the league against Ballymena,” said Robinson.

“It was an inflamed pubic bone, and I’ve been out since then.

“It’s been very frustrating, but thankfully it’s healed up now and I’m available for selection again.

“The past couple of weeks I’ve had no pain with it.

“When I played against East Belfast earlier in the season I was still feeling it.

“I’m pain-free now and hopefully that will continue and I can help the team.

“It’s been a frustrating season for me so far sitting on the sidelines.

“But that’s my second start in a row. I played against Ballymena during the week and started again today, and it was nice to top it off with a goal at the end.

“I think I’m due a bit of luck, there was a lot of emotion in that goal.

“It was nice to score and help the team get the three points. When you see the other results today it’s an even bigger bonus for us.”

As a defender, Robinson was equally as proud to shut Larne out at the other end.

And he had special praise for keeper Rohan Ferguson after his excellent save to deny Davy McDaid kept the score at 0-0 before Robinson popped up with the winner.

“I was right behind it, it was a great save,” he said.

“That just shows the type of quality he has. He was over at Motherwell and I know he’s trying to stay in full-time football.

“He’s definitely shown what he’s capable of and long may it continue.

“I’m glad we got the clean sheet today. That’s my first one of the season, so hopefully we can put a run together with that too, like last year.

“It helps the team and also helps build confidence.

“We know if we can shut the opposition out, we have the strikers who can score goals at the other end.”

The other results on the day went in Linfield’s favour leaving them two points off top spot with two games in hand.

“Obviously if we win them we would go top of the league, which would be nice, but we just need to take one game at a time,” said Robinson.

“Tuesday night is a massive game for us now.

“If we can win our games in hand and go top, and also get into the League Cup final, you’d take that.

“Getting into the final last year and winning gave us momentum for the remainder of the season.

“We just have to concentrate on winning and collecting silverware.”