Watford captain Cleverley aiming for February return

The 33-year-old made only three appearances right at the start of the season, and has since then been sidelined by an Achilles injury which – despite his best hopes – eventually required surgery.

However, he is just days away from getting the large post-surgery boot off his left leg and has that February 1 target etched in his mind.

“I’m sure the surgeon would say I shouldn’t have a target, but I’m looking at being playing again on February 1,” he said.

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“There will still be 17 games to go, plus possibly three more in the play-offs. So I think that knowing my season is far from over is helping me get through.

“From when I’m fit to play we could have 20 more games, and that’s pretty much half a season.”

It wasn’t an injury that occurred suddenly – even though he took a hefty blow while scoring the winner against Burnley in August – but more something which crept up over time.

“It’s an odd one. It wasn’t like my Achilles suddenly pinged – nothing like what happened to Dan Gosling at Bristol City. It was a case of wear and tear.

“I tried to get to a stage where surgery was the last resort, and unfortunately that’s what it came to. Four years ago it was on my right side, this time it’s the left side.

“I could not take the pain anymore and I had to get them repaired. They get cleaned up, a couple of small tears are stitched together and away I go. I’ve not had an issue with my right ever since, so I hope for the same with my left.

“Even when we were trying to manually treat this injury on the left, I knew deep down the pain was the same and too severe. I’d do work and then wake up the next morning in agony. I knew that it would need surgery and it would be the best thing for me.”

So, with surgery decided as the best route forward, Cleverley went back to the same expert who fixed his right Achilles.

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“The surgery was carried out four weeks ago and after that you start a 12-week rehab. It was done in London by the same surgeon who did my right Achilles surgery.

“I had a foot injury when I was 21 at Man Utd, and I went to see him back then. I’ve stayed in contact with him ever since and every time I have a serious problem that’s who I call.

“I’m out of plaster but I’ve still got one of those big boots that make you look like Robocop. You have to wear that for six weeks, and then after that I can crack on.

“I’m a little over 10 days from completing those six weeks, and then I’ll be able to walk normally, go to the gym and build up the calf muscle. Then the aim is to be going outside in the new year, and rejoin the team at the end of January.

“I’m actually doing a lot of rehab now and I have been since seven days after the operation. The gym guys have been brilliant and tailored a session where I can do everything seated. That’s punch bags, an assault bike (the bike with handles that move), single-leg rowing machines – I’ve still got my heart-rate monitor on, I keep an eye on my calories.

“It might sound mentally tough, but for me doing this keeps me sane.”

Cleverley scoring the winner against Burnley. (Image: PA)

Cleverley said getting the boot off, and the freedom that will provide him with, is his next big landmark.

“In just over a week I’ll be able to do gym workouts like any other player, and not having to use just one leg,” he said.

“In the new year I’ll be going outside the with the physios, which is the handover from the medical team to being part of the first team again.

“Every injured player goes through that: if you’ve had a two or three-week injury that handover can be two days, if you’re a three or four-month injury then it’s probably a 10-day process.

“You go outside with the physios and mirror what the first team are doing, but it’s done in a much more controlled situation.”

How will he feel when he finally ‘gets out on the grass’?

“There is always risk. Just because I had such successful surgery on the right doesn’t mean it’ll work on the left. I will be genuinely anxious the first time I go back out on the grass.

“I’ve never struggled in the gym with it. The big test is the first time you go out on the grass after being through surgery. There’s always that bit of anxiety that the pain won’t have gone.”

Cleverley admitted that the period immediately after such surgery is very testing, and he is using his recent experience to help a teammate.

“The first 10 days are the darkest. That sounds a bit dramatic because people are going through far worse in their lives. But you do have dark days.

“I’ve spoke to Dan (Gosling) about that, because you will have 10 days when you are genuinely horizontal. At least he’s got the World Cup to watch. But you can’t pick your kids up, you can’t make your own food, you can’t get a drink, you’re constantly reliant on your wife.

“You’re bored, you’re having to watch Watford’s games from home, and you just feel useless. Those 10 days post-surgery are the hardest.

“At least once you’re back in the gym it feels like the start and you can get focussed.”

Dan Gosling in action against Burnley. (Image: Action Images)

The Gosling injury was another big blow for Watford, and watching the game at home Cleverley wasn’t sure of the extent of what had happened.

“I could see he was fairly upset and I text him as soon as I saw the stretcher coming on to say I hope it wasn’t bad.

“He’s the person I am closest to in the dressing room. Now we’ll be sharing rehab tips and egging each other on in the gym.

“Dan still has loads to offer the club, he’s the fittest member of the squad and that’s proved by all the data we have.

“Everyone I’ve seen on social media says what a great professional he is and they’re not wrong. For me, he’s the best pro we’ve had at the club for the last two or three years.

“He is an example to every young player, and although he has a long road ahead of him I am sure he will be back.

“In this league, you need a player like Dan. I think I’m experienced enough to know football quite well now, and in the Championship you need players who are going to play the percentages – and they’ll play those percentages to at least seven out of ten standard every single week.

“With a little bit of flair sprinkled around the squad, that will get you promoted. You look at Sheffield United, they have got that balance right at the minute. I think it’s a balance we’ve not quite got right yet.”

There’s quite some midfield in the Watford treatment, with Imran Louza also in rehab after breaking his leg and suffering ankle ligament damage in the game at Millwall.

“He’s such a very, very promising player,” said Cleverley.

“He’s just come back from one long-term injury and walked straight into another one. But he also misses the World Cup, and he’d have started for Morocco.

“The lads have rallied around him because he was really upset when he found out the extent of his injury. That’s understandable: it’s a World Cup and you’re going to be part of it, then you’re not.

“He reminds me a bit of how Will Hughes played the season we went up. Someone who can control the game from that number six position.

“We’ll miss him massively, and I just hope he has a bit more luck in the future.”

Luck, in injury terms, has certainly seemed to have deserted the Hornets this season.

“I think you can categorise some of the injuries as bad luck,” said Cleverley.

“Imran was one of those. He blocked a cross, and his ankle goes underneath him.

“Some injuries are a case of overloading, which I put my injury into. For my age I’ve not played a huge amount of games, but every training session is miles on the clock.

“But then you also have injuries where it’s down to poor conditioning. I think you can put any injury down to one of those three things.”

Imran Louza celebrates scoring against Norwich. (Image: PA)

The amount of injuries has led to some outside the club questioning the medical team at London Colney.

“No, there’s nothing wrong with the medical department,” said Cleverley.

“If you look at past seasons, even last season when we got relegated, our injury record was good.

“The last two years, when we had very few bad injuries, nobody came out and praised the medical team. This season, we get four surgeries in the first four months of the season and everybody is pointing fingers.

“As players we always have to think have we done everything we can do, and not point fingers at medical staff. They have had to deal with us having a fixture schedule of 22 matches in 104 days.

“Other clubs have had injury problems, and every squad was struggling just before the international break.”