‘The worst part of my career’ – Newcastle star opens up on injury nightmare but says he is ‘feeling good’ again | OneFootball

Newcastle and England defender Lewis Hall has opened up on his injury nightmare this year.

Hall suffered a foot injury last season which kept him out from March until the end of the campaign.

And he suffered another setback this campaign when he picked up a hamstring injury, but has returned to action for his club this month.

The 21-year-old has also been called up to Lee Carsley’s England Under-21 squad for the games against the Republic of Ireland and Slovakia this month, and the left-back says it is a privilege to be back in the national team set-up.

“I was saying before I got here, it’s been a year since I’ve last been on an England camp, so it’s obviously a very proud moment for me,” he said.

“I’ve gone through a lot in that time, so just to be back with the boys is obviously a really good feeling.

“It was obviously a long-time injury, the one that I had initially, and I think whenever you have a long-time injury, it’s pretty common to get a few short setbacks, really, here and there.

“I’m feeling good in myself now, and I’m feeling like I’m getting back to my best levels in training. And from my appearances that I’ve made in the last week or two, I feel like I’m getting back to my level. So, yeah, I’m feeling in a good place.”

Hall’s injury last season forced him to miss Newcastle’s Carabao Cup final victory over Liverpool – something he admits still pains him.

“It was incredibly difficult,” he said, reflecting on his injury issues.

“I think it was the worst part of my career so far, really.

“The cup final was one for me that was incredibly hard to take, really. And even now, although we’ve won and I’m obviously buzzing that we’ve won, I’ve got my medal and everything that I’ve contributed, but at the same time, it still hurts quite a lot seeing that and just not being able to be there. Not so much not being able to play, but I’d had my surgery literally five days before, so I wasn’t able to get to the game and celebrate with the team, which was quite difficult for me.”

But the former Chelsea youngster says he is now mentally stronger for his fitness struggles, and is ready to get back to his best.

“I think it’s made me mentally a lot stronger, which I think, anyone who is injured, will tell you that,” he said.

“It’s not easy and you go through phases throughout the rehab process where you’ll have a couple of weeks where you’re feeling good, positive, and then you’ll have a couple of weeks where you feel like you’re not making that much progress.

“I guess it’s all just part of the process, really. I think now I’m just enjoying every moment as it comes. I never take anything for granted these days.

“Before I had my foot injury, I’ve never been injured before. I’ve always been training, always been available for games. I think having that four or five-month period where I wasn’t able to do that was something that I struggled with a lot, but obviously had a lot of support around me and stuff like that.”