Norwich City defender Timm Klose has offered an update on his recovery from injury and has discussed the difficulty of watching from the side-lines.
Klose picked up a long-term injury in August’s 1-0 Carabao Cup defeat at Crawley Town, suffering knee ligament damage in the 27th minute of the game.
Asked how he’s felt watching the following games without being involved in the squad, Timm said it’s been far from easy.
“It’s been horrible,” he said. “It hasn’t been as positive or as successful as last year, but we all knew that this was going to happen. The frustrating thing is that I always want to help, give advice to other players and be there if they’re struggling. It’s hard to watch the games when you see situations that make you frustrated.
"You need to be occupied and do stuff to avoid your brain becoming mash!"
“Everyone in the stadium thinks like a manager and they’ll say, ‘it should have been like this’ or ‘it should have been like that’, but I say ‘hold on a second. Imagine if you were on the pitch, I can tell you the situation would have been different.’ Then they can understand. It’s hard but we’ll get out of it.”
Encouragingly, while he’s hesitant to give an expected date for his return to action, Timm did insist that his recovery is going well and that he’s hopeful of featuring again in the 2019/20 campaign.
“I’m feeling well at the moment,” he added. “I’m within the timeline and have reached all the goals so far. The next stage is to get rid of the brace and get the muscle mass back and then to start running. I’m very positive about everything.
“I don’t want to put a date on when I’ll be back because that puts pressure on me, and supporters would stress out if I’m not fit when I said I would be. Let’s see how it develops and hopefully I can play some games this season.”
One of the few remaining Canaries from City’s previous stint in the Premier League, Klose added that he’s chomping at the bit to feature in England’s topflight once more.
“You can’t change the past. Obviously, I want to play in the Premier League and that was always my dream. I have full trust in my teammates that they will keep us there and I can do it next year.”
Unfortunately, the Premier League is and always has been full of instances of players suffering long-term injuries, but at the very least there are a number of success stories of players returning from such spells to act as inspiration for Timm, who picks up the conversation to discuss the help of a friend on the south coast.
“I have close contact with a friend from AFC Bournemouth, Charlie Daniels. We keep each other on our tiptoes, telling each other where we are and which stage we’re at in our recoveries. We met each other in Los Angeles last summer and it’s nice that there are players in the Premier League who are in the same situation. You help each other and I really like that.
“Charlie is an amazing guy and he has been through more than I have been. He’s quite positive and that should give his teammates the strength to go out there and be their best.
“When you’re injured, you need to be occupied and do stuff to avoid your brain becoming mash, as my father would say! That’s why I’m doing my coaching badges, interviews, and other things that I can help with when the club needs me.”