City skipper, Lee Frecklington, is relishing being back out on the pitch after a frustrating time with injury as he looks onward and upwards as he aims to get regular minutes back in The Imps’ matchday squad.
Now the experienced midfielder is fully back in the fold after making a return to action in last week he can’t wait for the next opportunity to get back out onto the pitch again in the shirt of his hometown club. After what he says has been his longest injury layoff, Lee is pleased to be over a period which he has found really difficult but the focus of getting back onto the pitch has been the perfect motivation for him to return to first team action.
“It’s like being at school, you’re looking forward to lunch when all the kids are outside playing football and you’ve got to sit inside and write lines and watch them play football. I’ve been in the gym and all you want to do is go outside and train with your teammates but you’re inside on a slide board or on a groin machine and you just want to be out there. When you can’t, being injured is the most frustrating thing, you want to help out your teammates and you can’t do that.
“The love for football has to be the main focus, you have to be prepared to do the hard work and picture yourself playing football again. There are days when you don’t want to go in the gym and you feel down, but you have to focus on getting back on the grass and that’s what I’ve done and thankfully I’m back again.”
Lee reserved special thanks for a number of people at the club who have been vital in his rehabilitation back to fitness, a group of people whose work often goes unnoticed but is no less vital than the work of those out on the pitch each and every matchday.
“We have a lot of people here who put a lot of time into the football club and the players. You take all the Medical department for example, people like Mike Hine, Luke Treadwell and Luke Jelly, they’ll tell you they’re pretty much working 24/7. They’re available round the clock and the work they have put in isn’t recognised enough and they’ve been brilliant with me.”
On Wednesday, when the FA Cup returns to Sincil Bank for the first time since the second round tie with Carlisle last term, the skipper is hoping it’s the start of another memorable run in the competition.
“[As a competition] It’s right up there amongst the best, you can never underestimate the magic of the FA Cup, you see what a good cup run can do for a football club in how this club went from strength to strength off the back of the last run. It’s the FA Cup and in Lincoln we have memories that we’ll never forget, if we can draw on that and replicate it then everyone will leave happy.
“[So]We all know the history of this place and the FA Cup and there’s no better way to come back from the weekend and have a night under the lights in the FA Cup at Sincil Bank.”
Remember tickets are still available for the game against Ipswich Town on Wednesday evening in the Emirates FA Cup, they are available online via Lincoln City Eventbrite – CLICK HERE – or in person within the club store at Sincil Bank.