Wojciech Szczesny insists he never doubted he would recover after breaking both arms in a freak accident.
Stopper reaping the rewards after recovering from freak accident
Arsenal stopper Wojciech Szczesny insists he never doubted he would recover after breaking both arms in a freak accident.
The Polish stopper suffered the injuries in a freak gym accident at the club's training ground late in 2008 as an 18-year-old.
He endured four months on the sidelines but he kept his belief and was rewarded with his first Premier League start in the 1-0 defeat to Manchester United earlier this month.
Reflecting back, the Pole told the club's
official website: "I was in the gym doing squats when I lost my balance and the weight fell on my hands and broke both of them.
"It was a little bit bizarre.
"There was actually a few people in the gym at the same time and they said they were about to laugh before they realised my arms were not quite straight."
Tough
The young Pole says he felt very down at some points afterwards but was buoyed by his conviction he would eventually recover.
"It was very tough, probably the toughest it has ever been for me," he said.
"For four months I was not able to play football and it affected my whole life. I couldn't do all the things that normal people do.
"I was very down at some points but I never had any doubts that I was going to recover from it.
"The belief that I was going to recover and be a good goalkeeper kept me going."
