It was 50/50, and I thought it was going to go the way I didn’t want it to go, says Luke
Luke Guttridge feared his career could have been ended after suffering a recurrence of the foot injury that kept him out at the back end of season.
Guttridge missed the run-in to last term’s championship campaign with a broken metatarsal and his return this season has been halted after aggravating the problem, restricting him to just 11 starts.
But the 32-year-old former Cambridge midfielder could be set for a place on the bench against the U’s on Saturday four days after playing 90 minutes in his comeback against Stotfold in the Beds Senior Cup – his first action in Town colours since the defeat at Burton on 22nd November.
“It definitely crossed my mind,” said Guttridge when he was asked whether he thought this season’s set-back could lead to him hanging up his boots. “When I saw the specialist and spoke to people it was 50/50 which way it would go – and I thought it was going to go the way I didn’t want it to go.
“It opened my eyes to see how close you are to finishing your career.”
A procedure involving a course of injections have helped heal the injury, and Guttridge now hopes to make the most of his recovery.
“I’m back ahead of schedule, the specialist was surprised at how well it has healed,” he explained. “When you’re younger you take things for granted, you think you’ll play forever but it’s opened my eyes. I’m looking forward to going on and enjoying the rest of my career.
“I came here to be successful and hopefully this season we can finish the job.”
You can watch a snippet of the interview with Luke below courtesy of our official YouTube channel, or watch the entire piece on Hatters Player.