Plymouth go into the international break sitting pretty in seventh place in the Championship following last weekend's comfortable 3-0 victory against Norwich at Home Park. And manager Ian Holloway is set to be given a further boost with the news that long-term injury victim Paul Wotton is on the verge of a return to full training. The influential midfielder has not played any first team football since suffering knee ligament damage in a 1-0 victory against Hull in December 2006. He made a comeback in August but suffered an injury to the same knee in his second reserve game back and underwent a minor operation in September. But now he is now fully recovered and, as givemefootball's Mark Shail found out, looking forward to a return to the action.
Q:WHAT IS THE LATEST ON YOUR COMEBACK?
A:I'm still with Maxie (Argyle physio Paul Maxwell) at the moment, but we are recreating match situations, such as one-on-one defending and one-on-one attacking – everything you do in football, really.
Q:ARE YOU FULLY RECOVERED FROM YOUR LATEST OPERATION?
A:Yes, I had to have a clean up of the knee basically. There was a bit of cartilage removed. It was a bit of a blip but I feel good now. It has gone past frustrating now and now it's getting on my nerves. Although I'm at a good place at the minute, frustration finished months ago. It's heartbreaking really, but it is part of football.
Q:DOES THE KNEE FEEL STRONG?
A:Yes, it feels really strong and I have finally come to terms with the fact it's never going to feel the same as the other one, but that doesn't mean it is any weaker. It's just different. It's got different bits in there from other parts of my body but doing the same job as before, and doing it just as well. It's just different. No worse, no better.
Q:HOW ARE YOU COPING WITH THE TRAINING SCHEDULE?
A:I get the odd twinge but I get that all over my body. If I hadn't had the operation I wouldn't have worried about it. When I run my ankles click, but I don't worry about it because I haven't had an operation on them. It's just accepting this is how it is and it’s going to be fine. My cruciate is as strong as anyone's in the squad.
Q:HAVE YOU SET A TARGET FOR YOUR FIRST GAME BACK?
A:I'm very close to joining in with the first team and then it's down to me and Maxie to see when I can play a game. I’m pretty optimistic. I feel fit and my lungs feel fit because I've worked really hard with Maxie. After one or two games in the reserves I'll be knocking on the gaffer's door, don't worry about that.
Q:YOU MUST BE IMPRESSED WITH THE TEAM'S START TO THE CAMPAIGN?
A:I have only seen the home games, I haven't seen the away games. We beat Norwich on Saturday and although they were poor you can only beat what's in front of you on the day and we played well. The boys are in good spirits and we're only four points off third place. When we get firing on all cylinders consistently I think there will be absolutely nothing to fear. There is a good atmosphere around the place at the minute.
