Ipswich Town defender Greg Leigh happy to be back after injury

The left-back was back on the pitch in Town’s Papa John’s Trophy loss to Portsmouth on Tuesday night, two months after suffering a compression fracture against Sheffield Wednesday in September. 

His absence has been felt, following an excellent start to his Town career after a summer move from Morecambe, but the 27-year-old is feeling good and ready to help his team once again. 

“It was a frustrating result but, on a personal note, it was great to be playing again,” said of his return in Tuesday’s 2-0 loss. 

“When any player gets injured the first thing that goes through their mind is when they can get back on the pitch. 

“I’m feeling 100% and personally it was nice to play again, because you don’t always know how you’re going to feel when you’re back out there. 

“We did everything we could and I felt 100%, which was great. 

“It was great to see the team doing so well while I was out but the games where you’re thinking ‘if only we could have hung on’ were really frustrating. Games like Charlton and things like that.  

“As much as being there was great it was still frustrating, but being back in and amongst it is great and hopefully I can help the team now. 

Leigh suffered his injury at Sheffield Wednesday (Image: Archant)

“That’s what you miss when you’re out. You want to be there, help and muck in to do the hard work for the boys.  

“Being back fit means a lot.” 

Discussing his injury, which he picked up while hyper-extending his leg while landing from a header at Sheffield Wednesday in August, Leigh said: “Initially I didn’t really know about a compression fracture and I wasn’t really sure what I had done. 

“But once I was talked through the process and what had actually happened, it calmed me down a little bit. 

“I was in a brace for a couple of weeks but the positives of that was I could do pretty much everything apart from straighten my leg completely. So I was able to do the gym the whole time and do my lower legs, maintaining all the muscle I had been building up over the season. 

“It became quite evident that, because I was able to maintain all of those muscles, I could potentially come back two weeks early. That was great and, when I was back on the grass, I was able to progress quickly and tick off all the boxes I needed to. 

“It was managed really well and it’s gone quite quickly.” 

Leigh was full of praise for Town’s medical team, who have helped him get back on the pitch ahead of schedule 

“It’s been excellent,” he said. 

“I’ve swapped teams a lot so I’ve seen how different groups of staff work and handle injures and I’ve been really impressed with the care I’ve got. 

“There is a lot of clarity on what’s happened and how we move forward. I got that from the medical staff and then every day you get a really solid programme on what you’re going to work on. I ask a lot of questions, which I feel is important, then you get the answers back and move forward from there. 

Greg Leigh is back with the Town squad (Image: Ross Halls)

“Working with Luke (Sewell, rehabilitation coach), Geoff (Robinson, strength and conditioning coach) and BY (Matt Byard, head physio) has been pretty much perfect for me, getting me through. 

“Players want to be back as fast as possible but also as safely as possible, which is what the medical staff really focus on. It was a match made in heaven for myself and a few of the other boys, too.”