Big chat with Stoke City player Ben Pearson as he returns to action after spending the better part of a year in the treatment room.
Ben Pearson had already been out of play for six months in early autumn, having undergone surgery on a problematic hamstring tendon and expecting to be back in action within a few weeks when he kicked a football. Then he experienced the anguish again.
The 30-year-old midfielder had never suffered a significant injury before, but this one was very severe. He missed the last eight games of last season and did not start the first 37 of this season until last Saturday, when he played the first hour of a crucial win over Swansea.
It was a physical and mental effort, especially after a seemingly minor setback in late September. But now that he’s back in shape and playing, he can see how that setback was just part of the process of getting him moving freely.
“I probably didn’t realise the severity of it when I re-did it but when I got the scan results back I was almost back to square one,” he told me. “Fortunately, I didn’t need it re-operated on, which most likely saved me another month, but it was unexpected.
“To be honest, I didn’t feel great throughout that time, but the following three months have been lot better, and I’m in a much better place today.
“The operation went well, but it snapped again while kicking a ball. The surgeon seemed to believe that when they operated and tightened it, your body was telling them that your tendon was too tight and was pushing away slightly. Since then, my leg has felt much better. Although it has given me an extra three months of rehabilitation, my leg is much better now.
Pearson understands that he hasn’t always been a pleasant patient for Stoke’s medical team, especially after a difficult year.
“They’ve probably hated me over the last nine months,” he told me. “I am a moaner. If I don’t think anything is done correctly, I’ll moan, and they’ll all hear it. The medical department has treated me well. I’d like to thank Matt Reddell, who has left to join Manchester City’s youth setup. He has been a great help to me over the last nine months and has been there for me when things have been difficult. A big thank you to him; he’s been a big part of getting me back in shape.”
After a few cameo appearances for the under-21s, he made a first-team substitute debut against Cardiff in the FA Cup, which lasted until extra time.
He felt terrific for the first 45 minutes of the Swansea game and stated that he didn’t want halftime to come – and if he felt it again after that, he is convinced he will be able to rebuild himself by playing more over the next three or four weeks.
When he spoke with local media this week, Angela Smith stated that when he received a yellow card, she knew he was fully recovered.
He laughed guiltily and replied, “It may not look fantastic, but it will stop an attack. If they score on that break, I’d kick myself for not doing it. Once I’m booked, I’m pretty good about toeing the queue. It was one of those situations where I wanted to protect the team first and then deal with it later.”
He continued: “It’s been a long trip. Last March was the last time I played properly, so it’s been a difficult year. It’s my first serious injury, and it’s taken some time to get back on track, but it feels good to be back.
“This is challenging. The most important thing is to understand what my injury was. I had a few issues over the year, and the last month or six weeks have been spent becoming fit, then match fit. After a year apart, you’ll most likely need three or four games to completely get back into the groove. That procedure most likely began within the last few weeks.
“It is difficult when you have no control over the outcome. We changed managers, and I didn’t even get to play under the previous manager, which was unusual for me. It’s dark times, but you get used to it after three or four months. Results haven’t been as good as we’d want, which has made things more difficult, but let’s see if we can start getting results.”
Steven Schumacher was manager when Pearson picked up his injury against Norwich but he left in September and his replacement Narcis Pelach left in December.
While working as a pundit on MUTV, Mark Robins observed Pearson’s progress at Manchester United. While Pearson’s experience could be beneficial for Stoke, their initial discussions focused on ensuring a successful comeback rather than rushing it.
Pearson stated, “It was more about getting and staying healthy than rushing me in those first few weeks. It was to ensure that I was ready, therefore I played under-21 games. There’s no point coming back and breaking down. Hopefully I’ve stood myself in good stead for the three or four months left this season, making sure I’m robust to last.”
So Pearson is back, hoping to stay back and hoping to properly kick start the Stoke chapter of his career that has squeezed in too much drama and not enough success for his liking over the first two years.
“This club has got to take off at some point,” he said. “I know we’ve been saying that, well you’ve been saying that, for the last six or seven years, but I firmly believe that it’s going to take off at some point. It’s got everything here; the training ground, a good owner with a good budget, now the manager. Everything is in the right place and it’s about getting the mix together and getting it right. We need to get these next three months out of the way, make sure we pick up enough points to stay in this league and hopefully in the summer kick on from there.
“Mark Robins is first and foremost a manager. He’s got his coaching staff and he leads by example. He’s been there and done it in this league and I think that’s what this club needs, especially at this moment in time. We’ve gone down a couple of different avenues and it hasn’t quite worked but this manager has got all the experience you need, he knows what it takes.”
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