Sunday 30 August 2015 15:18, UK
Southampton's Jay Rodriguez tells Sky Sports' Patrick Davison about his horror injury and his delight at being back playing again.
"Was that OK? I'm no good at those. Not like some of the top players." These were Jay Rodriguez's first words once he knew our interview was done and he was finally safe from the cameras and their glare.
It's an interesting comment in a number of ways. Firstly, it confirms what most who come across the Southampton striker say about him.
He's unassuming, unaffected his success and ever so slightly uncomfortable in the limelight.
It's hard to imagine he's changed much from the young kid growing up in Burnley, with dreams of being a Premier League footballer. In short, he's one of the good guys.
But he's wrong. Wrong about not being any good at interviews. He's much better than he thinks, and has an incredible tale to tell.
Depending on your definition of what a 'top player' is, you could also argue he's wrong about that.
If he's not one yet, then he was certainly well on his way to becoming one when injury struck back in April 2014.
Rodriguez went into the game against Manchester City in the form of this life - level on 15 league goals with Aguero and Rooney, having made his England debut and with every chance of being named in Roy Hodgson's World Cup squad.
The game was less than half an hour old when he leapt to control a ball, landed awkwardly and ruptured the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee.
"I felt it pop. Then came the pain and the panic. All sorts of things go through your mind... you feel very alone. It was terrible," says the forward, who left the field that day in tears on a stretcher.
I remind him of the pictures of a horrified Rickie Lambert, pictured head in hands. He tells me the reactions and faces of those around him made him realise just how serious the situation was.
I felt it pop. Then came the pain and the panic. All sorts of things go through your mind, you feel very alone. It was terrible.
"The doctor and the physio couldn't say anything but you could see they what they were thinking.
"When I next saw the ref, Chris (Foy) told me everyone on the pitch had heard it go."
After surgery to rebuild the ligament, Rodriguez threw himself into his rehab and was all set for pre-Christmas return when an already serious situation took a sinister twist.
A routine second operation to clear out the knee led to an infection. In a worst-case scenario, it could have led to his leg being amputated and his career being over.
"That's only in extreme cases," he explains. "But it was devastating, the setback was the toughest time."
Did he ever think it might be over?
"I never allowed that thought to enter my head," he says immediately.
"I had people around me that care about me. And my wife, she went through it as much as me, she's strong and she got me through the rehab."
Back when he was injured, wife Simone was just his girlfriend. Their wedding was a personal high in a summer that also witnessed some long-awaited good news on the professional front.
Rodriguez took a full part in pre-season, played and scored in friendly matches and then - after 16 months, or 488 days - against Newcastle, on the opening day, he finally made his Premier League return.
"After the wedding, it was great to be able to come back and be back and be involved again. Then to start the Newcastle game, that was when I really felt like I was back."
He's returned to a very different team and a very different club. The academy canteen we're sat in - and the state-of-the-art training facility it's a part of - didn't exist when he last played.
And the last time I spoke to him he was sat alongside Luke Shaw, Rickie Lambert and Adam Lallana, all of whom have long since moved on.
"The main thing is the team spirit is still there," says Rodriguez, who signed for Saints for £7m back in 2012.
"The club is in a good place - on the pitch we just need that first win," he says, attention now turning to the season ahead.
After scoring five in the four games before the ill-fated trip to the Etihad, right now he's early in his comeback and not yet back to his best. But, having come so far already, he's confident it won't be long.
"I want to be better than I was before. I want to improve every day, it's dangerous if you don't. Other people go past you."
It's a comment that reveals something else about Jay Rodriguez. He's fiercely determined. A quality which helped him back from the brink. One that's still driving him on.
