Striker Steven Rigg on his battle to get back into the side
Striker Steven Rigg spoke to us about his spell on the sidelines and his battle to get back into the team on his return to fitness following an ankle injury picked up during his loan spell at Barrow.
“It’s been a massively frustrating period, to be honest,” he said. “Everybody wants to play every week, and I haven’t played that many games through getting injured and things like that.
“All you can do is get your head down and get on with it. Hopefully I’ll be back in the team soon.”
“I couldn’t believe it at Barrow,” he admitted. “Six minutes in, or whatever it was, and the ankle injury happened. It wasn’t great but it’s one of those things and you just have to work at getting fit.
“At the time it happened they told me I could be out for a lot longer than I actually was, so I’m just grateful that it was only the nine weeks. It could have been months, so I’m happy with that.
“Sometimes it’s good to have a little break because you take yourself away from it and refresh yourself. I feel a lot better coming back and I’m happy with what I’ve been doing in training and with where I am at the moment.
“I’ve had pitch time recently and it’s nice to get back out there. I was out for three-and-a-half months in the end so it’s felt a long time since I had any. It’s about blowing the cobwebs off and hopefully I’ll be back to full fitness soon.”
On the praise received by the manager after his Orient appearance, he said: “It was nice to hear what the gaffer said after I’d been on as a substitute,” he told us. “It shows I’m still part of the plans and I just want to work hard so I’m involved as much as possible.
“We’re still talking about the play-offs because we’re only a couple of points off it. People seem to get downhearted when we have a poor result but we’re still right in it. I don’t see any reason why we won’t be involved.
“Exeter is a long trip but at least it’s not on a Tuesday night like Plymouth was. I don’t mind going on these trips and I’m quite looking forward to it. The aim is for us to get more points to help us to get to where we want to be.”