Being injured has been one of toughest moments of my life...

WHEN Oliver Dovin's right knee buckled at Bramall Lane last March he knew something was wrong, but never imagined the extent of the injury in the minutes he was being treated and carried off the field.

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It was only after a more thorough examination in the away dressing room at Sheffield United that the grim reality hit home for the Coventry City goalkeeper - a moment he describes as one of the toughest in his life.

Almost six months on, however, the 23-year-old can see light on the horizon and is looking forward to hitting the nine-month milestone that should, all being well, signal the beginning of his return to full-time football.

Asked how his rehabilitation is going, he told the Coventry Telegraph: “I’m alright. I don’t think the disappointment goes away completely. Obviously I've accepted what's happened but it took a while. I still think about it sometimes and it’s tough but you have to keep moving forwards. But the rehab is going well, I guess, so far.

“I think it's on course, where I'm supposed to be and that’s the goal. Obviously you want to be ahead of schedule if it’s possible but the most important thing for me is to get back and my knee being 100%. I don’t want to take any risks, so I would rather be a little bit more careful than rush back.”

He added: “I’m 24 weeks post-op, so that’s five-and-a-half months since the surgery. And now I'm looking at a full rehab time of about nine months, so around January, that’s the goal.”

Reliving the incident that happened late in the first half against the Blades last March, the Sweden international said: “My knee was in a vulnerable position when I planted it, and when their player was pressing me, he tried to take the ball and he hit my leg. So it inverted in and I felt straightaway that something was wrong. And yeah, it was tough.

“I actually didn’t think it was an ACL, I thought it was something less serious, maybe the MCL (medial cruciate ligament) or the PCL (posterior cruciate ligament) or something but then they took a look in the dressing room and they thought that it was my ACL, and then it struck me.