When Rhys Breen injured his hamstring back in October, it kicked off a third frustrating lay-off in the space of barely six months for the Dunfermline Athletic defender.
“I couldn’t catch a break,” he admitted of a spell stretching back to the end of last season.
However, having returned to action unscathed in Saturday’s 1-1 draw with Arbroath, the 23-year-old is hopeful the worst is now behind him.
Breen was joined on the sidelines by the likes of skipper Kyle Benedictus, the luckless Kane Ritchie-Hosler, Matty Todd, Craig Wighton and Deniz Mehmet at various times in an injury-ravaged campaign.
After seeing out last term with a hamstring problem, the former Rangers youngster sustained a knee injury in August that kept him out for two months before a further eight weeks without action due to an unrelated hamstring issue.
But he insists having company in the treatment room has helped to smooth a roller-coaster spell.
He said: “I came back in pre-season and I was flying, but the injuries I’ve picked up have been quite significant. I had a tear in my knee and then I injured my hamstring again.
“I did my hamstring at the end of last season as well, but this was in the other leg.
“You couldn’t write it.
“Since coming back from the first one I’ve been doing pre-hab for both my hamstrings and it was just one of these things that happens in a game.
“It was near the end of the Raith game [on October 28]. The second it happened it was so similar to the last one, so I couldn’t really believe it. I couldn’t catch a break.
Rhys Breen, baby 🏆 pic.twitter.com/J9WPnvMmFR
— Pars Review (@ParsReview) April 30, 2023
“But it’s been really uplifting being back in amongst the squad again. When you’re doing rehab, there’s times where it gets a bit boring and a bit frustrating because your return seems so far away.
“But to be back in the team again against Arbroath was brilliant.”
Strength in numbers
Benedictus has been a particular support during Breen’s recoveries.
The captain and defensive colleague damaged his thigh in the same defeat to rivals Raith in October as he made his own return from a broken foot.
Comforting though that camaraderie was, Breen is optimistic of a change in fortune for both men in the second half of the season.
Breen continued: “Because I had been through the previous hamstring injury, my head wasn’t actually in that bad a place compared to what I thought it would be.
“I knew the procedure of coming back to training, so I just got my head down and made sure I could come back fighting fit.”
He added: “Everybody drives each other on in their recoveries.
“At the start of the season, the number of injuries we had was ridiculous. But when you’re in a squad like that with guys who are injured at the same time as you, it goes a long way.
“You can kind of egg each other on. We’re all on the same path and we’re all on the same wavelength. It’s good to have that encouragement.”
Conversation