Five weeks after the Neil Taylor tackle which broke his leg during Ireland's World Cup qualifier against Wales, Seamus Coleman returned to Everton's training ground for the first time since sustaining the injury.
The Ireland captain has already spent time in the gym and pool on his road to recovery.
Speaking to the Everton Show, Coleman explained what was going through his mind in the moments following Taylor's horrific challenge.
I knew instantly (it was a serious injury). I had never broken a bone in my life but my initial thought was to just hold it and make sure nobody would try to take a quick free-kick or anything like that.
It was a case of trying to stay calm and look after it until the doctor came on. When he came on, I told him it’s broken and I’m sure he probably knew as well. Once I knew they had it under control, I think the pain started to hit me then.
I’ve watched it all back. There are some players that wouldn’t want to but I think it’s best to just get it out of the way. I’ve seen the footage and the pictures, I’ve got over all of that. Obviously, it wasn’t nice - but it happened.
Reassuringly, Coleman is not entertaining thoughts that he will not return from injury as the same player.
I think patience will be the hard bit. I’ve read different articles. I’ve no fear I won’t be coming back the same player, there’s none of that nonsense. I know I’ll be back, I won’t be afraid of my first tackle or anything like that - that’s not a problem for me, psychologically.
I think the time will be the [difficult] one for me, because you’re used to playing every week and training every day. But it’s part and parcel of it and you just have to get on with it.
Photo by Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile
