Walsall's Rory Holden vows to come back stronger after knee injury

The 23 year-old former Derry City and Bristol City winger feared the worst when he damaged his knee ligaments in an innocuous training ground incident ahead of the club’s St Stephen’s Day trip to Salford.

Those fears were quickly allayed after a scan on his left knee showed he had sprained his lateral collateral ligament (LCL) but he’s had to endure a ‘frustrating’ spell on the sidelines and four weeks in a protective brace.

The former Northern Ireland U21 international had his brace removed yesterday and is now well on the road to recovery at the West Midlands club.

Remarkably, Holden expects to return to training within the next four to six weeks which will come as welcome news to fans of the Saddlers.

The ex-Candy Stripe was one of the team’s stand-out performers this season and it no surprise that his injury coincided with Walsall’s five game winless run in the league.

Indeed, Walsall boss Darrell Clarke described Holden as ‘an important cog’ in his team and the talented winger is hoping he can pick up where he left off when he returns to action at the end of February or beginning of March.

“I’ve been injured now for the past four weeks or so, I’m just starting to pick up my rehab now,” explained the former Top of the Hill Celtic youth. “It was frustrating when it happened because I was starting to play well and the team had come off the back of five wins in a row.

“I had started to score a few goals and was creating chances for other players so the timing was frustrating,” he admitted.

“Initially they thought I would be out for the rest of the season. I did my LCL but I’ve seen the specialist a few times now and we’ve discussed it. He thinks I’ll be back within eight to 12 weeks from when it happened.”

Holden was attempting a one-two in a training match and when his pass was blocked the damage to the outside of his left knee was done.

“Initially I thought nothing of it when it actually happened in training,” he explained. “Whatever way my knee twisted, my body went one way with my weight and it sprained.

“I got up and started running and then I felt a twinge in my knee. It just kept getting worse as I tried to run it off and I had to pull out eventually.

“I went to see the physio and he knew straight away and put it in a brace. I got a scan a few days later and they confirmed it was my LCL. The only good thing is, usually with this injury you also injure other parts of your knee, your ACL or MCL, but I was lucky I didn’t actually do any more damage.

“It’s been four weeks now so hopefully I can get back in the next month to six weeks. Obviously I’ll take my time and come back when I’m ready but hopefully the sooner the better.”

The injury couldn’t have come at a worse time for Holden who was named in the EFL League Two ‘Team of the Week’ in early December. And he admits he struggled to come to terms with the blow during a ‘lonely’ Christmas period in lockdown at his home in Lichfield, just outside Walsall.

“It did come at a bad time. For the first two weeks I wasn’t able to do anything and you do feel a bit down.

“But whenever you start coming back and have a bit of rehab and see small changes and progress, you just take it week by week, day by day and eventually, before you know it, eight to 10 weeks have passed and you’re back training or doing some sort of running on the pitch.

“I’ll work hard and come back stronger,” he promised. “The physio we have here at Walsall is very good. He keeps you motivated and says all the right things and tries to keep your spirits high.”

Holden made his breakthrough into the senior ranks at Derry City under Kenny Shiels in 2017 and played in both UEFA Europa League defeats to Danish outfit, FC Midtjylland before scoring a wonderful individual goal in a 4-0 win over Sligo Rovers at Maginn Park.

He quickly earned a professional contract with Bristol City that summer and hasn’t looked back. After loan moves at Barrow, Rochdale and Walsall, Holden finally found his home at Bank’s Stadium.

The diminutive winger realised he needed to work on his physique to make the grade in League Two and he reckons he’s benefited from the hard work off the pitch over the past couple of years.

“I think from a young age I’ve had a good work ethic. At Derry City I was full-time and so I came over and it wasn’t that big of a transition. Obviously it’s a different ball game over here with the facilities and stuff compared to what you have back in Ireland, it’s on a different level.

“Since I’ve come over I’ve worked harder. I’ve put on weight and focused more in the gym which is what I needed. Technically I was alright but when I was younger people would tell me I was a bit lightweight so since I’ve come over to England I’ve focused on that.

“To play in the lower divisions in League One or League Two, or even if you made it into the Championship or Premier League, you need to be strong, you need to be very physical.”

His relationship with Walsall boss, Clarke has also helped him flourish and he’s hoping he can still play a major role in the club’s push for the play-offs or even automatic promotion which certainly isn’t out of reach.

“I have a good relationship with the manager and he gave me confidence from when I signed on loan last year.

“I started this season well and everything was going to plan. I had set goals at the start of the season and I was getting there before this setback.

“Hopefully when I come back I can hit the ground running again and hopefully we can get promoted. That was the main goal for everyone in the squad.

“The league is very tight, there’s not much between the top 12 or 14 teams. I think we’re four points off the play-offs at the minute and seven off top spot.

“It just goes to show, if you can find a bit of form at the right time you can get into the play-offs or even the automatic promotion which is ideally what we want.”