Special Feature: No Matt Finish
"You can't keep a good man down" - so goes the old saying.
And so it was that Matt Murray breezed back into Wolves' training ground this week - admittedly with the aid of crutches of course - to set about plotting the latest rehabilitation process of his luckless career.
It's just over three weeks since Matt's impressive comeback on loan with
On hearing the news of the 27-year-old's latest misfortune there were those who feared it could be the last straw for a keeper tipped by many to have genuine
And the man himself admits it did cross his mind as to whether he would be able to carry on having suffered the latest problem just two-and-a-half games after returning from over a year out with cruciate ligament damage to his other knee.
But carry on he is, and it was a hugely positive Matt who did the rounds at
The
· How he ended up in tears after taking a phone call from best mate and Wolves hero Robbie Keane enroute to hospital
· That his surgeon has nursed Olympic long jumpers back to fitness and has NEVER had a footballer not return to play after a ruptured patella.
· He has been inundated with messages of support from fans and fellow players.
· And how a certain impending event tomorrow will provide a happy distraction.
Matt has already been back to the surgeon who is pleased with the way the knee is progressing, as are Wolves medical staff.
And things are certainly looking far more positive than on that miserable night on November 25 when, nine minutes into the second half of
No problem this time with the left knee which had caused so many complications after a repair to the cruciate ligament.
This time it was the right one which had given way, and almost immediately, Matt feared the worst.
"As soon it happened I knew what I'd done - I've been in and around treatment rooms so long that I knew what I'd done," he recalls.
"And mentally there was the initial shock of 'I can't do this again' or 'I don't want to play anymore'.
"I'll be honest, I was devastated.
"When I first did it the knee was sore but after about 30 seconds the pain went.
"I was then on a stretcher - I've never been stretchered off before so that was a new one! - but by the time I was going down the tunnel it all hit me and I was quite emotional.
"I headed off in the ambulance and Keaney (Robbie Keane) had already heard and phoned me and I was chatting to him in the ambulance.
"He was gutted for me and I just broke down, I was crying.
"My Dad was there as well and I just went to hospital.
"Everyone at
"The surgeon was great as well, he rearranged his plans to get me in on the Friday so I could get the operation in straightaway.
"Once you get the operation out of the way you start to feel you're on the way back and get your head around it."
In sorting out those early mental issues and after consultation with the surgeon and his family Matt was quickly settled on his next course of action.
To once again start thinking about the long and lonely road to recovery.
"After a day or so I was ready for what I've got to do," he insists.
"I've been here before, it's not career threatening and I can play again so I'll just get on with it.
"Once the specialist had seen the scan and said he'd got Olympic long jumpers back to competing at that level I knew I would give it a go.
"I'm not going to be jumping like they do and he also said there wasn't one footballer who hadn't come back from it.
"He looked at my left knee and was very happy with that which was a positive and everything else is fine.
"Of course you talk things through with people and my family would always back me either way.
"Seeing them so upset was difficult because they go through it all with me and know how grumpy I am around the house if I'm injured - my little girl was gutted!
"If I ever get an injury and the surgeon says this will affect you in later life and could be really serious then you have to sit down with the doctors and medical staff and make a decision.
"But at the moment they are all saying there's no reason why I can't come back playing and while that's the case then I'll get on with it.
"I wouldn't want to have any regrets if I finished too early and at the moment I'm just focused on getting back now - that's all I want to, get back playing.
"Surely there can't be anything else now but it's just so annoying because I feel I've done this interview so many times before."
There is sure to be a groundswell of support from all sides in terms of helping the keeper along the way as he targets a pre-season comeback.
Indeed, it's already started.
"I just want to thank everyone, from my family through to the club," he says.
"The amount of phone calls I've had that I'd never have expected and the number of messages and cards into the club have been brilliant.
"When you've got that many people behind you then you can't ask for any more."
And while professionally it's bad news for Matt just at the moment, personally it's the complete opposite.
Wife Chloe is due to give birth tomorrow to a sister for the couple's four-year-old daughter Taliya.
Matt adds: "I've got another little girl on the way tomorrow - my wife Chloe is booked in for a caesarean - and that's going to be a massive focus for me.
"That should make it a great Christmas and once that passes the worst of the injury will be over and I'll be off the crutches and back in doing stuff and starting to be a footballer again.
"Injuries never come at a good time but obviously that's a great and happy distraction to have coming up."
Once the new arrival is settled into the family home, and Christmas has been and gone, then it will be all hands to the pump in terms of the rehabilitation.
"At the moment it's just fingers crossed," says Matt.
"I've been here before and have just got to start doing my stuff again and get on with it."
