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SWEDE RETURN FOR EDMAN

Posted on: Tue 10 Nov 2009

Defender delighted to be back in action after lengthy absence

March 2008 is awfully long time ago in football, and for none more so than Erik Edman.It was against Blackburn Rovers that month that the Swede suffered cruciate ligament damage in his knee, and has been struggling to get back in the team ever since.

But against Fulham on Sunday night the defender was back in action, playing 75 minutes and having a big say in Emmerson Boyce's opening goal, and speaking after the game he spoke about the long road he's taken to recovery.

"It's been a long time since I last pulled on the shirt and it's definitely nice to be back," said Edman.

"I've had to take quite a bit of time off through injuries over the last couple of weeks, before taking part in some training sessions in the run-up to the game.

"To have suffered the concussion as well was unbelievable really. I've been waiting a long time for my chance and when it came along both Maynor and myself were injured.

"I've got two weeks now to get fit and hopefully against Spurs away I'll be able to play a big part. It'll be nice to go back to the lane, where I had some very happy times at what is a fantastic stadium.

"Over the last five and-a-half weeks I've had four sessions, so to be able to play for 75 minutes was unbelievable, I didn't think I would be able to do that.

"From a personal point of view I have to work really hard over the next week or two to get my fitness levels up if I'm going to be ready for the Spurs game.

"However, because I've been out for so long I really want to be playing again next week rather than wait through another international break. But it's 14 days that I've got to improve my fitness and that can only be a good thing really.

"It's my first game under the new manager and there have been a lot of changes in the way we play.

"We're still in the transition period he speaks of, and you have to give things time, especially when you have a lot of new players coming in, and a new style to adapt to.

"I still think Maynor is the first choice left-back. He's been doing so well over the last couple of seasons, and I have to be humble about my situation.

"Having said that I still want to do as well as possible for the club when I'm given the chance."

It was a tough game for the full-back to return to action in, and he believes the desire and effort shown by Latics should have won them all three points, saying;

"Fulham are a great side and since Roy Hodgson took over they've been progressing terrifically, so it was a tough game for me to come back into, but I'm just delighted to be back on the pitch playing football again really.

"It was also nice to be a part of what was a good goal, and overall I think we deserved to get three points out of today's game. Mark Schwarzer did extremely well to keep us out so although we're slightly disappointed with the result, there were a lot of positives to come out of our performance.

"I think the main thing was that we wanted it more, especially in the second-half. When you look at the game over the full 90 minutes I think we deserved to get the win for the attitude and commitment we showed."