DAVID CUFFLEY Luke Chadwick is ready to put a 99-day nightmare behind him when he returns to full training with Norwich City on Monday.

DAVID CUFFLEY

Luke Chadwick is ready to put a 99-day nightmare behind him when he returns to full training with Norwich City on Monday.

The Canaries' £200,000-plus capture from Stoke City has been sidelined since suffering a gashed knee after scoring on his debut in the 3-1 defeat at Ipswich in November, an injury that required a clean-up operation and a longer than expected period of rehabilitation.

But manager Peter Grant said earlier this week he hoped the 26-year-old winger would resume training on Monday - fully 14 weeks and a day after his Portman Road misfortune, when he was sent hurtling into an advertising board.

And Chadwick admits he can hardly wait to get his season back on track. He said: “I thought I'd be out maybe four or five weeks, but there have been complications. It wasn't really the cut that was causing the problem, it was more the impact the board had on the bone in my leg, so it's taken forever. But fortunately now it seems to be all over.

“I'm back training on Monday, touch wood, so I can't wait. It's been a long, frustrating time out injured, so I can't wait to get back involved with the lads.

“Without a doubt, it's been the worst injury I've had in my whole career.

“Add the fact of not knowing when I'm going to be back, and it just seems to have taken forever. But now it seems to be fine, everything seems to be in order, the scan went well so I hope that will be it now.

“When you get to a club you want to play games, train with lads. It was a nightmare getting injured in my first game, but let's hope that's put my injuries behind me and I can stay injury-free for a long time now.”

Chadwick said his recovery had gradually gathered momentum.

“I've been working really hard. I couldn't run to start with but now I've been out running.

“I feel really fit. Training as well will get my sharpness back, so if I get back in on Monday I can have a good week's training and start looking to get back towards the first team again,” he said.

“The last two weeks, I've been kicking a ball around and it's been fine. It's just a case of building up my fitness.”

As for the timing of a senior recall, he said: “That will be up to the manager. As soon as I go back training, I consider myself fit. If I'm fit enough to train, I think I can be fit enough to play, so it's up to the manager and the medical staff to decide when they want to put me back in.”

He said he was encouraged by City's performances in recent weeks, despite their lack of victories.

“I've been watching the lads. In the last few games, we look to have turned the corner a bit. We haven't got the results, but we seem to be playing well. These are two massive games, against Coventry and then at Luton on Tuesday, and hopefully we can pick up the points to get us out of trouble.”