Jordan Graham says he is geared up for a summer of hard work as he continues his rehabilitation – as he targets an early-season boost for Wolves.
The ambitious winger, grateful for the continuing support from the Molineux faithful, is making good progress from the cruciate knee ligament injury which he sustained against Cardiff in January.
Whilst Graham knows there can be no risks taken with such a serious injury, and there remains plenty of work to be done, he is currently aiming for a return in late September or early October.
“It’s one of those things where you just have to accept what has happened and move on,” says Graham.
“Ideally no one wants to be in over the summer but I know it’s what I need to do if I want to get back and after a couple of days when the lads had gone I quickly got my head around it.
“I am working hard and things are progressing nicely and on track.
“I think you always need to be mentally strong in these situations and it all comes in different stages.
“At first you need to accept what has happened and then move on and start looking at what you need to do to get back.
“As soon as I did the injury I knew it was nine months minimum so I knew that I would be in over the summer.
“And it’s not too bad to be fair, when it is quieter it is easy to come in and get the work done that you need to do.
"A few of us have been in as well which also helps.
“Ethan (Ebanks-Landell) and Mike (WIlliamson) have been in, Nouha (Dicko), and Michal (Zyro).
“We all know what we need to do over the summer and the individual schedules we need to follow and everyone has been getting on with it.
“As it stands we are still aiming for late September/early October time and everything has been progressing well.
“But we won’t be taking any risks.
“With an injury like this you want to wait until it is fully right before coming back.
“The way it is healing now I think it should be o-k for end of September time or start of October.”
Graham says the support from Wolves fans on social media remains a continuing source of encouragement and further motivation.
And he is pinning his hopes on being available to return to give Kenny Jackett another option, hopefully on the back of Wolves making a good start to the 2016/17 campaign.
“The fans have been great to me on social media – and that does genuinely make a difference,” he added.
“I have been surprised by how much support I have been getting and it does spur you on even more to try and get back.
“It just motivates me to be as good as I was or even better when I come back playing.
“What I did during those games that I played has also spurred me on.
“Once I had played a few games I felt I had really settled in to the level – I wasn’t worried about how I was going to play and just felt confident about every game and was enjoying it.
“That makes me even more excited about wanting to come back.
“Hopefully we will make a good start to the season and then I can be available again to try and give an extra boost to that.”
