Luke Thomas missed a month of action with a hamstring injury but looked bright on his return to action.
Luke Thomas has admitted his injury “probably came at the right time”, with the Bristol Rovers winger admitting he has lost weight as he recovers from a hamstring problem.
The striker was one of the Gas’ best players in the first two months of the season before being forced off with injury early in the second half of the 2-0 loss to Peterborough United. At the time, it looked like this defeat could be a major blow, especially as the entire team was dealing with injuries. However, the 24-year-old returned earlier than expected two weeks ago against Northampton Town and performed brilliantly in the last three matches.
“Obviously it was never the right time to get injured, but maybe it was the right time for me,” Thomas admitted to local media ahead of this weekend’s trip Carlisle United. “I felt like I needed to lose a few pounds and obviously I’ve had the time to do that so that’s obviously been positive for me and I feel a lot better now.
“I feel really good. I tried to come back from injury a week or two early, which I knew was going to happen anyway. The damage wasn’t as bad as I initially feared and it was great to be back.
“[It was] very frustrating. I thought I got through it the first time. I thought I could come back and keep going, but obviously that wasn’t the case. But yeah, I looked at the damage And luckily it didn’t look as bad as I thought.”
“A goal and an assist in last Saturday’s 7-2 win over Whitby Town in the FA Cup first round took Thomas’s tally for the season rising to three goals and three assists, equaling his tally during a disappointing loan spell at the club two years ago.
Before his injury, the winger has always been one of Rovers’ best players, even in matches where the team struggled, the striker always looked as though he could create something from nothing and turn things come true for his team.
Despite being sidelined, it’s fair to say that a lot has happened at the football club, the biggest incident being the departure of Joey Barton and Gas still being looked after by Andy Mangan. The players have publicly stated how much they love the former assistant coach and Thomas was no different, saying: “I thought Mangsy handled it very well. He obviously took it all off all that [pressure] off of us, so we” I think everyone could see, just by the way he spoke and carried himself, that he was clearly a great man.
and an incredible coach, so everyone appreciates him following orders.
“I definitely did better than the first time I came here, but it wasn’t difficult,” the 24-year-old added. “I’m still not at the level I want to be but hopefully in the next few matches I can start to show more.
“I think there are some games where we all work hard, but it hasn’t happened consistently, but I’m sure if we continue to work hard at practice and understand the patterns of each game and how they want to play and achieve results.” on the same page, I’m sure it won’t be far away.
“We’re not a million miles away. I think we’re only six points away from the play-offs, is nothing given the number of games left, but I think people are still finding their footing, but once things take off, I think it’s going to be really exciting.
“I think it would be a very good point if we scored three points on Saturday. We just need to turn these draws into wins and we’ll climb the table in no time.”
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