John Mensah's tribute to physios at Black Cats

Mar 16 2010 by Mark Douglas, The Journal

JOHN Mensah has paid tribute to the Sunderland medical staff for helping to rescue his season.

The Ghana defender has been plagued by injuries since joining the Black Cats, but a carefully devised training schedule has helped him to make four successive appearances – his best run since joining the club.

Although his fitness problems have not been banished completely, it represents serious progress for a player who was not capable of playing back-to-back games for the first few months of the season.

Because of a diminished spinal canal that has caused a series of niggling hamstring and calf injuries, Mensah only trains with his team-mates on Fridays.

He spends the rest of the week in the gym and rehabilitating in the swimming pool.

It is a programme that is starting to reap rewards for Mensah, who has played a huge part in Sunderland’s recent defensive renaissance.

The Black Cats have only lost one game in which the “Rock of Gibraltar” has played and Mensah puts his improved record down to the Sunderland physios, who have finally got to the bottom of his fitness problems.

“The physios are working hard,” he said. “Back in France I used to have a lot of injuries but they are working hard on keeping me fit.

“And everyone, the players and management, are all keeping me very happy, which is the main thing.

“I have worked very hard with the physios here and I believe I am back now, fit and ready. It has been hard, getting as fit as I can for games without doing much training with the ball.”