Will Smallbone on battle back from cruciate injury

Will Smallbone will only receive his second Irish under-21 cap in this upcoming international window after battling back from an ACL tear suffered while playing for Southampton against Leicester City.

“I remember just the ball going to the full-back, I think it was [Timothy] Castagne. I then went to press. My foot just got caught and as he went to pass it down the line, he just passed through my knee basically,” recalled Smallbone.

“At the time, I didn't think it was too bad. I got back up and tried to play on for five minutes or so. The doctor took me off and then the next day the news from the scan was an ACL and meniscus, so I'd be out for so long.

“It was obviously such a tough time and a tough bit of news to hear. Ever since that day, I had to focus on getting back to playing. Now, I'm here, I'm just enjoying every minute of being back.”

Smallbone made his debut against Friday’s opponents Italy in Pisa 13 months ago. Now the midfielder is making up for lost time. 

“It was a shame in a way. There's never a good time to do an ACL but it was obviously quite a bad time for me in terms of getting back in the team but now my focus is just to get back to the level I was before.

“From me not realising how serious it would be from when I did it that night to the next day -- when everyone hears ACL, it's like six to nine months or whatever it is. I think that was probably the toughest bit and after my surgery from the week or two before, being able to just play football freely to after that bedbound as such, on crutches, not being able to do much myself is probably the lowest point of the injury and the toughest point.”

Southampton boss Ralph Hasenhüttl has nurtured an encouraging dressing room atmosphere, a good mix of young players combined with experienced professionals. 

“At my club I've got Theo Walcott who's done an ACL and [Danny] Ingsy was there at the time, so they were all very good in giving me advice. They've obviously been in the same situation, so when I'm getting my stitches out or whatever, they took quite a keen interest in seeing how I was progressing. They were very good on the bad days at cheering me up and on the good days, just keeping me going,” said Smallbone.

It wasn’t just the physical impact of the injury; it was also the psychological aspect which provided a challenge.



“In my first few sessions I was a bit wary in terms of tackling. So that was a mental barrier that I had to get over probably about six weeks ago or whatever -- to go into a tackle and just feel nothing. So, once I got the first one out of the way, everything just went smoothly from there.”

For anyone coming back from a serious injury, the first tackle is always at the back of one’s mind. Smallbone overcame that fear.

“It was a good feeling, to be honest. That was probably the bit in my rehab that I had, not spoken with, but was most tentative about. Because obviously where I did it in the tackle, to then go back into tackling was probably the biggest bit mentally that I needed to get over.”

“Once I got through that barrier, it was not relief as such, but it was in a way that I felt fine and I can trust my knee now, just trying to get back to playing as normal as possible.”

Now Smallbone only has one focus, performing well for country, which might force his club manager to include him in the first team. 

“These games have come at a fantastic time for me in terms of being able to play against two high-calibre oppositions, which can only help me go back to Southampton to try to get back into the starting XI.”



Italy have perennially qualified for the under-21 European Championships and their team boasts several players who play week in, week out at either Serie A or Serie B level. Matteo Lovato (Atalanta), Nicolo Rovella (Genoa) and Lorenzo Lucca (Pisa) will look to impress after featuring for their clubs recently. 

“Italy as a nation are very good side and they'll have a lot of good players, but we need to take joy in the fact that we've got a lot of good players here as well. We can cause them problems and if we can get the fans in Tallaght to create a home atmosphere, it would help us out massively,” said Smallbone.

Smallbone is happy just to be back in a green shirt. He paid tribute to his international manager in aiding his comeback.

“Jim [Crawford] has been great with me since my injury. He's called me once a month maybe to see how my progress is going and check up on me. In the last international camp, he invited me to come and train because I still wasn't quite ready for matches just yet.

“He invited me to come train, but it worked out better that I stay at Southampton and got a game in that time.”

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