The last two seasons have been a real test of character for Craig Forsyth.
The understated left-back has had to overcome not one but two long-term knee injuries and as a result endured a prolonged spell on the sidelines.
However, he’s back in action and prepared to draw a line under what’s gone in past.
He breezed through pre-season with flying colours and his reward for the many hours of rehabilitation work was being named in Gary Rowett’s starting line-up at Sunderland on the opening day of the season.
In this exclusive interview with The Ram, Forsyth tells us about the road to recovery, explains what he’s learnt about himself and why he feels Derby will be more consistent under Gary Rowett.
First of all, Craig, how are you feeling fitness wise? It would seem, so far, things have gone pretty smoothly for you.
Touch wood, everything has gone well for me to get back to playing games again. It has been plain sailing so far, so now it’s just a case of making sure I keep on top of things. I need to be making sure that I do everything I can to keep my knee in the best possible shape with leg weights and stuff like that to make sure it’s as in as good a nick as it can be.
Are you doing more ‘prevention’ work then with the knee – given you’ve had two long-term lay-offs?
It’s not been forced on me, so I have almost taken it upon myself to make sure that I’m doing everything I can prevention wise with leg weights and stuff like to make sure I’m strong and that there isn’t a chance that anything bad can happen. It’s just a case of being sensible because I certainly don’t another spell out or anything like that.
How has the knee felt?
It has been fine. There was one day that I felt something, but it was just a case of I hadn’t caught the ball correctly with my right foot, which obviously happens quite often as it’s my swinger! It opened the knee up a bit, but it was fine. It was nothing more than a little twinge so overall it’s been all good.
In the first pre-season game at Kidderminster you went in for a crunching tackle in the first half. Was that a reassuring moment for you to go into a challenge like that and come out of it with no problems?
It’s probably not something you think about before you go into the tackle but maybe after it you think to yourself that it felt fine, if you know what I mean. It probably was a little bit of reassurance for me, but beforehand it isn’t something that really goes through your mind because you don’t have time to think like that. I certainly didn’t go into the game thinking ‘I need to go into a proper challenge and test the knee’.
In terms of having two long-term injuries, do you look back and think you have overcome two massive hurdles?
It is a strange scenario. I went from hardly missing a day’s training to then having two career threatening injuries. I went through it all and I had to think that, I’ve been through it once so I knew the second time exactly what I had to do in various stages of the rehabilitation. I knew the tough bits, those moments where you want to chuck it in but have to grind through it all. I knew how to get through it. You’ve got to stick at it and the days where you’re training back out on the pitch are what make it all worth it; they keep you going.
You have told us on a few occasions that during the second time out you knew what to expect. Which of the two was the toughest to overcome?
When I did it the second time, that’s when things really hit me. That was because I knew what lay ahead and it is a long way back to fitness. I did it very early in the season and I knew that was me done and dusted for the whole campaign. It probably knocked me for a few days to be honest and it took me a while to get my head around. At the time, people say around six months to get back and initially it doesn’t sound too long, but when you are doing it every day, it’s a very long time. There are some days where, to be honest, you can’t be bothered with it any more but you’ve got to stuck at it because you know that if you don’t, it’s only going to harm you further down the line. You’ve got to try and come in and be as positive as you can be so that you can get on with it.
Given you had put so much hard work in to get back for the start of last season – how hard was it to accept your comeback was so short-lived?
It was very surreal. I’d gone through it all and then I was back to where I was for seven or eight months. It was a bit of a blow to think that I’d gone through it all and then I had to do it all again but it’s just a test, I suppose, of your character and how much you want to do it.
What have you learnt from the last two years and the challenges you’ve faced?
I’ve had to sit and watch a lot of football so, obviously, you pick up different things because you see the game differently when you are watching from the stands. I’ve also learnt a hell of a lot about my body and my knee as well that I didn’t know before and I think that’s helped me in going forward. I know different things and how to cope. From the last two years, I’ve learnt to just to take every day as it comes because you can’t take anything for granted.
I am sure you’ve seen at various times people, here at the club and in the media, have said Derby have missed you in the last few seasons. That must provide a huge boost for you during some tough times?
After 18 months out, you would think that people would forget about you so it is obviously nice to hear people mention you every now and again. Even little things like that can really give you a boost sometimes when you’ve stuck in the gym and working with the physios. I appreciate all the nice comments and well-wishes I have had.
Moving on to the football then – how was pre-season and how do you view the first week of the season?
I think pre-season went well. Before we came back at the end of June, my main aim was to get through it and do as many sessions as I could and that the knee could stand up to it – that was the biggest thing. After that, the games came into play and I knew it would take a bit of time for me to get going. I felt things progressed well for me and it was really satisfying to be back in the team for the opening day of the season as we picked up a decent point away to Sunderland.
How do you feel the team is progressing and developing?
I think we had some good performances over the pre-season and the performance at Sunderland wasn’t too bad; we got a point and it was something to build on. There have been things that we could have done better and that we need to improve on. We have all done what the manager has asked and we have all put in the hard work. We have stuck together and got through it. Now the season has started, it’s a busy period with plenty of games and we are all really looking forward to it.
From a team perspective, it seems the spotlight has been on other teams when it comes to the promotion race and promotion favourites. How do you view that?
The outside media haven’t been talking about us as much, as you said there, and maybe that can play into our hands – if we go under the radar then so be it. That doesn’t mean, internally, we don’t have high standards or aspirations. Since I signed here back in the summer of 2013 from Watford, the target has always been to get promoted and build towards it so I don’t think that’s changed and I don’t think it will. We are keeping our heads down, working hard and trying to be as good as we can be as a group of players.
You’re working under Gary Rowett now – how have you found your time with him so far?
I think the manager has be very good with me. He has been honest and open and that’s all you can ask for really. Playing against Burton Albion and Birmingham City in the past when he was in charge at both clubs, they were always hard-working teams who are very tough to play against. Hopefully we will be a bit more like that like we have been in the past and not so easy to play against. I think that will be a big thing for us this year.
You say there being ‘easy to play against’. You have watched the last few seasons from the stands and that appears to be an interesting observation.
We have always had a perception of being very good when we’re on the ball and not so good when we’ve been out of possession. I think that will be different this year and we have done a lot of work in the last few months to make sure that it is different this time around. The manager tried a few different formations in pre-season and so I think we will be able to change it within games or for certain games. We’ve got a big squad and lots of players who can play in different positions so I think it’s something we will be able to do, which the manager has said in a few interviews.
Consistency is a word that has been spoken about a lot in recent years – do you feel we could see more of that from Derby this year? For example, the team went on good runs and bad runs last year with little middle ground.
In the past, as you would expect, we have been on good runs and bad runs so I think if we could try and even it out a bit more and get a bit more consistency then that would really improve our overall position. When you go from highs to lows then it can get draining at times but if you’ve got that consistency then everybody can keep their spirits up a lot better. Consistency will be a big thing for us this year.
You were in the defence at Sunderland which contained Richard Keogh and Andre Wisdom. As a trio, you played a huge part in Derby’s success in 2013/14 – is it nice to have some familiarity in the backline?
What has helped me this season is going into a back four that I am very familiar with. Although it has been a few years ago with the likes of Andre Wisdom, you know each other’s game and it has been slightly easier to get back into things.
As full-backs, yourself and Andre had a good understanding didn’t you in terms of the balance of the team?
Last time, Andre was quite happy to sit back, defend and let me go help out the attackers from left-back. Saying that, he still got forward and we knew that when one went, the other one would stay back. I don’t think it’ll be any different this time to be honest. On Andre, from when he was here last time, we could all see what a good defender he was. He was very rarely beaten and very good on the ball. From watching him in pre-season, I don’t think that has changed. Obviously since he was last with us, he has had a few loan spells and hopefully he would have learned from all of them experiences. He’s played in different countries, he’s played in the Premier League so I think he has come back to us as a better player.
How do you view the Championship this season?
The league this year is very much the same as always. There are around 10 teams that you look at and think they could go and have a successful season and get promoted. We will be looking to include ourselves in that group but I think you have to look at Middlesbrough who have spent a lot of money and therefore have to be up there, as well as Aston Villa. It’s not about flashing the cash, though. Huddersfield had a fantastic team spirit last season and that saw them through and over the line. The hard bit is always doing it on the pitch. I think the facilities here are fantastic, but at the end of the day, where it has to be done is on the pitch and that comes down to us as players to take on the responsibility and try to get us over the line.