Stanley defender Adam Buxton is a relieved and happy man having made his return to the first team fold at AFC Wimbledon on Saturday.
The 22-year-old came off the bench to appear for the first time since September, and netted his first goal for the club in the process.
It was the culmination of a tortuous period on the sidelines, all provoked by an infected in-growing hair on his thigh that turned into a serious problem.
“Obviously the last four months have been hard for me, being out injured,” said the former Wigan man. “It was just a great feeling to be back out on the pitch. The result wasn’t the one we were looking for but to chip in with a goal as well was good, considering that’s not something I usually do. The most important thing is three points and we weren’t able to do that so we have to move on and put that right.
“It was a bit of a freakish injury really. I had abscesses on my legs so I couldn’t train at all or even break sweat. Normally when you are injured you can do other stuff like going in the gym and doing weights but I was basically doing nothing for three months. In the last month I’ve been working hard to get back fit and I felt pretty good at Wimbledon.
“Now I’ve had a taste of it, and a goal, I just want to play every minute that I can because I’ve missed so long. You don’t realise how much you miss it until you can’t do it.”
Buxton is in the squad for tomorrow night’s home game with Bury at the Store First Stadium and will hope to step up his return with more match minutes.
However, he’s putting personal gain aside to help the team’s cause.
“We just need a win,” he stated. “When you’re playing Saturday-Tuesday if you don’t get a decent result on the Saturday then you have the Tuesday to put it right. It’s better to play sooner rather than later and hopefully we can prove that and get a win.”
