Plymouth Argyle captain Joe Edwards details severity of hamstring injury

Joe Edwards has revealed how he had to have the hamstring tendon in his right leg reattached to the bone in an operation carried out by a top London surgeon.

The 34-year-old Plymouth Argyle captain was operated on by Professor Fares Haddad last Tuesday and has been recuperating at home ever since, although he did go to watch his team-mates when they drew 1-1 away to Derby County at the weekend. There is no timescale yet on when Edwards could return to playing himself, other than for him to say it will be 'sometime in the new year' but probably not January.

There is never a good time to be injured, but it came at a particularly bad time for Edwards because he had been playing some of the best football of his career at the start of this season under Argyle head coach Wayne Rooney.

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Edwards told Plymouth Live: "I think that's the biggest disappointment and sadness. Obviously, you can get injured whenever in football, it's part and parcel of our job, but it had gone so well for me this season. I was enjoying it, playing some good stuff and felt really fit.

"It seems to be the way sometimes, it brings you back down with an injury. The severity of it was the biggest disappointment for me, and also the responsibility that I have, I always feel like I should be there to help the team and help the club, and being injured for a period of time that's something I will find hard, not being able to help on the pitch.

"I'm over the sadness of it now. I was really gutted at the time. I knew on the day it was a bad one, it felt bad. Then the scan backed that up and I just couldn't wait to get the surgery done and get on the mend."

He continued: "It's my hamstring tendon. I have had fixed back up to my bone from a very good surgeon in London, Professor Haddad, who does a lot of the top Premier League boys' injuries. So that was brilliant. It's reattached and ready to repair, which is great news.

"It's a little bit painful now. These first two weeks are the most painful because it's known as your sitting bone so you can imagine sitting around is not the most comfortable at the minute. It's securely back on, stronger than before, and I'm looking forward to getting it strong and ready to go again.

"Professor Haddad was brilliant with me. The two days in London were fantastic. I was very well looked after. I had the operation about eight in the morning and I was back at my house about three o'clock. That was really good."

Edwards was injured when he chased back to try to prevent Brad Potts putting Preston North End 3-0 up in the early second half of the game against Argyle at Home Park on October 26. The skipper had to limp off after receiving attention, but the Pilgrims staged a remarkable fightback to draw 3-3.

"It wasn't from a sprinting action, it was from a stretching action," said Edwards. "A sprinting action damages the hamstring muscle whereas a stretching action is more of a pull of the tendon. I felt the usual cramping feeling straight away.

"Deep down I knew it was going to be something serious. I didn't quite realise the extent of it but, as I said, that's unfortunately part of our job.

"I have had a week off at home doing very little, to the annoyance of my wife, lying around asking for cups of tea. This week I'm still at home. I can literally do two exercises so Gaz (head of performance Gareth Law) has said there is no point coming in for that.

"I'm just gradually starting to move the leg again. I'm in a brace at the moment, it's just moving the leg and trying to fire up the muscles. After two weeks it ramps up quite quickly. There is a weekly set plan which the surgeon gives to our physios.

"After the second week I'm back in the gym and doing squats. That will be exciting for me because I have done nothing for two weeks, so I will be looking forward to that."

As for when he hopes to return to action for Argyle, Edwards said: "It's going to be sometime in the new year. It won't be January I don't think, but it will give me time to play this season, which is great.

"You have got to be careful of not rushing it and then missing another chunk. You want to do it so you are back and you are fit and ready to go. At the moment, there is not an end date, which is quite good in a way. I'm ticking off the weeks.

"It will be in the new year, it will be plenty of time to play this season. Hopefully, the boys will be in a nice position for me to come back into! I'm not a great watcher but I'm going to have to get used to it. I like being involved and being out there but I will help as much as I can off the pitch."

Edwards was eager to make the trip to Derby after watching Argyle's 1-0 midweek home win against Portsmouth on TV and he met his team-mates as they made their way into the away changing room at pride Park.

"I probably hadn't seen them for two weeks," said Edwards. "I had a few days off before the operation because there wasn't a lot I could do and then they travelled away to Leeds for two or three days.

"I spoke to them on the phone, literally all of them text me god luck for the operation and after it, and things like that. So they have been great. I wanted to get up to Derby to see everyone. It was nice to be there before they arrived to welcome them in.

"It's quite a boring time being injured. It's tough mentally so being around it all is great. If I can encourage and help them as much as they can help me then it will be fantastic."

Edwards has also received lots of messages of support from the Green Army and that has been a big boost for him. "That's the bit that keeps you going," he said. "They have been brilliant with me ever since I have set foot in the club. I have got a lot to thank them for.

"I know they are probably just as disappointed as I am that I'm not going to be playing because it had been a really good start. They voted me player-of-the-month two months in a row, which has been amazing.

"That's the bit I hate feeling, that I can't be out there helping them but they have been great. They have sent me loads of messages and when I saw people on Saturday as well they were fantastic. I will need them to keep me going and when I'm back I will be raring to go again.

Edwards added: "I have played nearly 550 games and I have had three major injuries. I broke my leg, I did my ACL in my knee just before I signed here and now this one. It is what it is.

"The only thing I will say is coming back from each of the first two, and it's the old cliché, but I did feel better again. After my knee operation, I have not missed a day's training or a game from a knee issue.

"Hamstrings are funny old things which need looking after but I'm lucky I have not relied on my pace too much in my career! I'm not going to get any quicker necessarily at 34. Sometimes it's a little reset and it keeps me going for another couple of years now hopefully, which will be great."

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