NEIL FARRUGIA is hoping to make up for lost time after returning from injury.
Farrugia, 24, dislocated his shoulder on the opening night of the season.
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After an 11-week absence, the Shamrock Rovers star made his comeback off the bench in his side’s 1-1 draw against Bohemians on Friday.
And he will hope to feature again this evening against Waterford in Tallaght.
The lay-off was the latest set-back for the winger who battled with hamstring problems in 2019, 2020, 2021 and again last season.
But the nature of the latest issue meant he could get back training sooner rather than normal.
The ex-UCD player said: “When you have the pre-season build-up and you’re feeling fresh, the first game of the season, it kind of just hits you. I just didn’t expect it, you know?
“I started the game well and you’re ready, you’re on top of it all and then out of nowhere, you’re like, ‘What just happened?’
“I had a good pre-season and then all of a sudden, I’m in a hospital getting my shoulder popped back in.
“It was just unlucky and I guess you have to enjoy it while you can because you don’t know what’s going to happen.
“It took me about two weeks or so to really get my head around it. But to be fair, Rovers are brilliant. And they got me the operation I needed.
“So hopefully, the likelihood now is very small for it to happen again.
“I’ve had a fair few injuries. With the shoulder, it was bad for about three weeks.
INJURY WOE
“I was bed-bound, needed help to get around, couldn’t drive, and that was tough.
“But once I got moving and a bit of mobility back, I was back on the pitch fairly quickly because it was an upper-limb injury.
“Then all of a sudden it was about being safe and keeping the risk low of falling down again. So I was back on the pitch fairly quickly again.
“With the hamstring, you could be a while. So to be fair mentally, it wasn’t the worst because I’ve been there and also, because I was back on the pitch fairly quickly.
“I probably had three weeks where I was on the pitch, but I wasn’t allowed contact. So I was able to do a good bit of training by myself.”
And, having built himself up in training, he was cleared to feature at Dalymount Park as Rovers came from behind to claim a share of the spoils.
The former Ireland Under-21 international — who was called up to a senior training camp by Stephen Kenny last year — said: “I was seeing the surgeon this week.
“He kind of just gave me the green light and said, ‘You’re good to go’.
“That’s what I needed. I probably was a bit wary before then — scared of contact and falling. But once he said that, I was like, ‘Yeah, I’m good to go.’
“It was great on Friday. I loved it. I thought we could have got more with the result, but it is what it is. I was just happy to be back and back playing again.”
Lee Grace and Gary O’Neill remain out long-term with Seán Hoare, Rory Gaffney, Graham Burke and Richie Towell unlikely to be risked today, even though Dylan Watts and Darragh Burns are out with knocks picked up against Bohs.
Kacper Skwierczyski is ruled out for Waterford with a hip injury, with Harvey Macadam a doubt.
ODDS: Shamrock Rovers 2-7, Waterford 9-1, Draw 4-1.
VERDICT: Shamrock Rovers
