'I am ready to rumble again' /Should We call him back Now?

'I am ready to rumble again' - Ben Turner feeling good after coming through three games in a week

1 DEC 2015


BY ANDY TURNER


Coventry City loan star can't wait to get back on the pitch for big televised clash against Sheffield United


Ben Turner believes he’s close to full fitness after coming through three Sky Blues games in the space of a week.

The Cardiff City loan star is loving every minute of his time back with the club he grew up with and looking forward to the remainder of his spell with the Sky Blues.

“I’m really enjoying it back here,” said the 27-year-old former City Academy graduate.

“It’s been a really hard week for me because I’ve not done three games in a week for a long time but now I have come through it I am happy and I just want to keep pushing on with my fitness.

“I am feeling good. I got my right ankle reconstruction done and I am ready to rumble again.

“It’s great to come through two full games after almost an hour in the first one. The higher up you go in football the easier it can be physically.

“The lower you play the more running you have to do because the little bits of quality are not quite so good, but I feel like I’m playing in physically tough games and I feel all right.”

Turner’s debut couldn’t have gone any better, a comfortable 4-0 lead against Gillingham before the break including getting on the scoresheet himself, before back-to-back 90 minutes against Bradford and Doncaster.

“The first game was always going to be the easiest because you have the adrenaline and you’re excited to get back on the pitch,” he said, reflecting on his first 55 minutes.

“And then the second and third game it becomes normal again and you start feeling your aches and pains from the previous games. But now I have time to recover, regenerate my legs over the next two-week break and get ready to go again.

“I should be just about getting there now. It would be nice to have a game next Saturday to be honest because I’m trying to build myself up and it’s effectively my pre-season but at least I’ll be nice and fresh for the next one.

“We’re looking forward to the Sheffield game, get everyone fresh again.”

Ben Turner celebrates scoring against Gillingham
Getting through his first three first-team games following ankle reconstruction is a major confidence boost for the powerful centre-half.

“It feels solid now and I feel confident in it because you never quite know how it will be until you put a run of games together to prove to myself and everyone else that my ankle’s all right,” said Turner.

“I had a grade three tear in my ankle ligaments and they did what’s called a Brostrum repair which means they stitch the ligaments back together but it didn’t work. They basically drilled the ankle and fitted a brace across the join so there’s no gap and it doesn’t roll any more.

“It’s a bit weird because you have to get used to a foreign body in your ankle but I’m used to it now.”

Turner may be required to pop back to Cardiff for a check up with the club’s medical staff, but he said: “I haven’t spoken to anyone at Cardiff over the last few days so I don’t know if they want me back to have a look at me and assess how things are going with my ankle and fitness.

“At the minute I’ll just be reporting for training with Coventry unless told otherwise. I think the plan was to go back for them to assess how it’s going but there’s no problem so I don’t see any issues.”

The Sky Bues have retained their place at the top of the league with two contrasting draws – 0-0 at Bradford's Valley Parade and 2-2 at home to Doncaster, and Turner confirmed that there was a lot of frustration in the dressing room after the second game.

“It was one of those games where we wanted to grind it out and get the win but we gave away two poor goals and obviously paid the price,” he said.

“They never really caused us many problems but we kind of shot ourselves in the foot and we have to move on.

“We lost the ball in bad areas a couple of times and they have gone and scored, but no-one is pointing any fingers.”


John Fleck scored City’s second to restore the lead in an impressive return to the side from the midfielder who held up his hands for Rovers’ second after he fluffed a pass in his own box.

“If you are on the ball as much as he is there will be the odd misplaced pass but no-one’s blaming him for that,” said Turner.

“He probably makes more passes than anyone in the team so he’s going to give it away now and again.

It’s just one of those things. We scored two goals and should have won 2-0 so we just have to move on.

“We had chances to score more but it’s just one of those days where you think, ‘how on earth didn’t we win?’

“We created some chances and they didn’t really create anything; we gave them two goals so it was very frustrating.

“But you have to be positive. You can’t get negative because if you do it will do your head in.

“We’re unbeaten at home, still top of the league so it’s all good.”

No point calling him back just to put him on the bench.

Much better that he gets competitive game time under his belt than sit on his arse here.

Morrison and Connolly will be picked by Slade for every game unless they get injured or suspended no matter how many goals we concede.

Still got Manga kicking his heels which is a disgrace quite frankly.

No point calling him back just to put him on the bench.

Much better that he gets competitive game time under his belt than sit on his arse here.

Morrison and Connolly will be picked by Slade for every game unless they get injured or suspended no matter how many goals we concede.

Still got Manga kicking his heels which is a disgrace quite frankly.

Agree, we have the best defender in the Championship and he is sat on the bench, couldn't be any more Cardiff! We all know Slade only ever plays 4-4-2 regardless of how the game goes but I would rather sew 5-3-2 like this (everyone being fit):

-----------------------MARSHALL------------------------
-----------------------------------------------------------
---------MORRISON----MANGA----CONNOLLY----------
--FABIO---------------------------------------MALONE--
-------------GUNNAR---------------RALLS---------------
------------------------AMEOBI---------------------------
---------------JONES-----------WATT--------------------

No point calling him back just to put him on the bench.

Much better that he gets competitive game time under his belt than sit on his arse here.

Morrison and Connolly will be picked by Slade for every game unless they get injured or suspended no matter how many goals we concede.

Still got Manga kicking his heels which is a disgrace quite frankly.

hasnt manga just come back from injury?