Ruben Loftus-Cheek opens up on his agonising return from injury | OneFootball

Chelsea midfielder Ruben Loftus-Cheek has revealed that he had to “learn to walk again” after an Achilles injury curtailed his start to the season.

Loftus-Cheek ruptured the tendon in May, which meant the 23-year-old missed the Blues Europa League win, as well as the entirety of the new campaign so far.

And the England international has now opened up about just how difficult his recuperation has been.

“To be honest I didn’t leave my house much, especially as I’ve been on crutches,” he told WOWHYDRATE.

“I’ve just been playing on my Xbox, I’ve been on holiday once, it wasn’t great as my leg was in the cast so I couldn’t swim and it was really warm.”

“When it happened I turned and pushed off and I heard a clap, it was really loud and I thought someone had smashed me from behind. The referee gave a free-kick, he blew the whistle so he must have been close to me, but watching the tape back nobody was near me.

“As soon as I came out of my cast, I could barely lift my heel off the ground in a sitting position.

“To lift my leg up took maximum effort, with a big injury it’s really hard, you don’t see a difference everyday, you don’t wake up and think it’s a lot better every morning, it’s over a period of time. It’s more exciting the closer I get to making my comeback, the more I keep pushing I will be there soon.

“The big side of injuries is the mental side of it, so I had to stay positive and keep the right mind set. Even a tweet or a message from a fan makes a big difference to me. I’ve been at home with my mum, two brothers and my sister, they needed to look after me a lot, it was hard getting around in my cast. It was quite fun getting my sister to make me food all the time (laughs), my family have been fantastic through that period.

“When you have a good day you get excited, getting that much closer to getting back on the pitch again playing football, getting back in the gym and pushing it, so we will see how it goes.”

Loftus-Cheek is expected to return to action within the next month with Frank Lampard’s side currently fifth in the Premier League.