Ridgewell happy to defy medics

Ridgewell: Goal against Sunderland

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Birmingham City's Liam Ridgewell has expressed his delight at returning to action in five months after fearing he could be out for the best part of a year.

The Blues defender broke his leg in their 1-1 Championship draw with Plymouth last April and he had been told he could require up to ten months on the sidelines.

However, the former Aston Villa stopper made his comeback from injury last month and in his second Premier League start of the season against Sunderland found the back of the net.

Ridgewell is just happy to be playing after fearing he could be out for the remainder of the year, something he found frustrating after initially thinking he would be back sooner.

Pleasing

"It was really pleasing to get the goal and just to be back," explained Ridgewell.

"I was told that I could be out for up to 10 months. That was frustrating because when I first had the operation I asked the surgeon how long it would be before it had healed and he said three months.

"I had it in my head I'd be playing again then but that was just how long the healing time would be - I had to get fit again afterwards.

"It was a clean fracture of the tibia and it wasn't nice. There wasn't too much waste on my muscle but I was laid up in bed for three months going crazy. I've still got a rod and four screws in there."