Michael Thwaite is not going to let the setback of an ankle injury spoil what has been a stellar start to his Hyundai A-League career.
Michael Thwaite is not going to let the setback of an ankle injury spoil what has been a stellar start to his Hyundai A-League career.
Thwaite rates himself a 50-50 chance to take the field against Adelaide on Friday, after injuring his ankle against Newcastle two weeks ago, but even if he doesn’t play, he feels it will not affect the momentum he has built in his short spell in the league.
“It’s pretty good actually. I got through a tough session there. I’m really happy with that I’m happy with the progress. It’s been ten days since the injury occurred,” he said.
“It was actually the first corner against Newcastle. I went up and sprained the ligament, on the lateral side. I’ve been treating it with anti-inflams and things like that but it’s looking pretty positive.”
Thwaite feels confident he doesn’t need to risk his injury should he fail to prove his fitness on Thursday and is confident in the cover the squad has.
“It’s still probably 50-50. We’ve got great cover in Sebastian Ryall, Stephen Pace. So we’ve got great depth in the squad, so there’s no point talking any risks. Today, it felt really good. And we are training at the Telstra Dome tomorrow. I’ll get a better feeling,” he said.
“At the moment I feel that I can positively play. I’ll just see how it pulls up after a full session and things like that. The cover in our squad is fantastic. There’s no point in risking it if there is a problem, but it’s looking good.”
The small setback certainly hasn’t affected his confidence. He feels like a new player since arriving from Norway on a loan deal.
“These little niggly things happen in the match. It was a really good pre-season, to win the cup and things like that. We’ve started the first three games so well and we just need to continue in that winning mentality. What better team to play against than Adelaide, I’ve heard there’s a massive rivalry. Hopefully a big crowd turns up,” he said.
His biggest challenge has been trying to get up to speed with the players he has to come up against week to week. He said that he has some familiarity with the playing style, while video helps him do his homework on the rest.
“I’ve always known the style of football in Australia, and it’s always been very competitive. There’s a lot to improve on tactically. In the game I’ve played it’s been very competitive. As a team, we’re just trying to sort out our own tactics and our own formations and it’s worked well,” he said.
“I think I’m just taking it week to week, I don’t know much about the teams. Obviously when I played in the NSL, there’s a few players still kicking around. I just look at the videos that Ernie and Aaron give me,” he said.
