Australian conquers worst fear

Nov 15 2008 by Luke Edwards, The Journal

MARK Viduka has overcome the fear his career could be over after he made a successful return to full training this week for the first time in more than five months.

Viduka is still several weeks away from making a competitive comeback, but the big Australian has finally overcome the psychological barrier which has hindered his rehabilitation from a painful ankle injury.

The former Leeds and Middlesbrough striker has not played since the end of last season due to an Achilles injury and was reluctant to return to full training as he was not confident the problem had healed following surgery in the summer.

But the 32-year-old, whose contract is highly unlikely to be renewed at the end of the season unless he starts to make a significant and consistent contribution to the first team, had his fears allayed following a trip to his homeland last month to seek a second opinion.

“Mark’s return is the good news, Steven Taylor not making the Wigan game is the minus,” said assistant manager Chris Hughton, who was asked to talk to the media yesterday as interim manager Joe Kinnear was on a scouting mission. “We have to gauge how much he can do, but he’s on the way.

“He hasn’t done any pre-season and he’s been out a long time. The injury he had is in a very delicate area, but his rehabilitation has gone well and he hasn’t broken down.

“We’ve got to make sure the volume of work he does is manageable but the aim now is to make sure he keeps increasing that volume in the weeks to come.

“I think he’s happy in himself now. He went over to Australia to seek a second opinion and I think mentally he is right, very much so. I think with all injuries the fear is there – are you going to break down in your rehab?

“In that period when you are getting stronger you are worried that something is going to go again, but Mark has got through that and he has been able to increase his workload gradually.

“It’s a big lift to see him out on that training pitch again, but we are going to have to be patient. We don’t want to put a timescale on it at the moment, but hopefully he will be back in the first team in a matter of weeks.”

With Viduka on his way back, there will be considerable competition for places in United’s attack with club captain Michael Owen likely to still only be among the substitutes against Wigan Athletic today because of the form of Obafemi Martins and Shola Ameobi.

Hughton admitted it is a tough decision for manager Joe Kinnear to make and frustrating for Owen not to come straight back into the side, but a relief when compared to the injury situation at the start of the season.

He said: “All we can do is hope we have the best players available at any given time. Anything more than that is out of our control.

“Michael could not have done any more than he has on the training pitch. He was back from injury a few weeks ago and he has put himself in a better position to be involved in the team. It’s up to us.

“I accommodated both Oba and Michael and we played with the both of them last season. What Joe will do is pick a team for each given game.” With Owen’s contract expiring at the end of the season, allowing him to leave on a Bosman-style free transfer, rumours are rife the club may look to sell their record signing when the transfer window opens in January, with Aston Villa the latest club to be credited with an interest in the striker.

Hughton, though, was not aware of anything regarding Owen’s possible destination.

He said: “Aston Villa interest is new to me. It’s the norm now. It will be one club today, another tomorrow and there will always be talk of your best players interesting other clubs.

“That’s one thing you always have to deal with.”