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The Fulham midfielder Steve Sidwell has said that he feared for the worst when he suffered a number of new problems last season. The former Reading and Chelsea midfielder has now said that he almost came to the end of his career last season, but is now fit and ready.

The midfielder has now there was even a time when he discussed the options he had once he retired from football. The feeling of retirement from football at 29 years of age, though, helped him to kickstart his recovery. The 29-year-old will now be facing Aston Villa during the weekend as one of the best players of the Fulham team this season.

He says this is a remarkable progress from the dark and gloomy days of last season. The hernia problem that he initially suffered was turned into a groin and abdominal problem subsequently. He has said that the operation he decided to undergo last season would be the final attempt at recovery. Thankfully, for the operation was a success and he has been able to resume his playing career. He has said that football has been his life since the age of five and it would have been a catastrophe if there was certainly no football left in him.

“It was a hernia that turned into groin problem, then an abdominal problem. It was a nightmare. The last operation could have been the last throw of the dice, but it worked. There was a time when I sat down with my advisors to look at what circumstances I would be in if I had to throw in the towel. Fortunately I had this operation that worked and I did all the rehab,” said Steve Sidwell. Fulham come into the match after having drawn their previous encounter 3-3 with Arsenal.

Steve Sidwell has said that he wants to get regular first team opportunities for Fulham. However, the English midfielder admitted that he is not likely to be included in the first XI in the starting matches, but, he said that he would try to impress Martin Jol, the manager of Fulham, in the limited chances that he would get.

As per Sidwell, no player wants to sit on the bench. Everyone wants to go out there and contribute for his team. But, every player can’t be included in the first team. So, it’s important to grab the opportunities that come your way. If you keep performing well playing as substitute, you would definitely be able to secure a place in the first XI at some point of time.

In the last season, Sidwell had suffered a serious hernia injury which ruled him out of the team for the second half of the last season. He had to go through three surgeries to get rid of this serious problem. As per Sidwell, he had this hernia problem since a long time, but, it was not disturbing him too much. So, he kept playing with that.

But, it became quite severe in the last season. That’s why he opted to have a surgery. According to Sidwell, he didn’t use to take the small niggles seriously and always used to ignore them. But, that was not sensible at all. A sportsman should take care of his fitness properly. You can’t take your fitness for granted.

Danny Murphy who had captained Fulham in the last season has left the club this summer. On being asked about that, Sidwell said that Murphy was a good leader, but, his exit would not affect the performance of the team much as there are many experienced players in the team who can take over the captaincy.

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Steve Sidwell has recovered from his injury and he made a comeback with a pre season friendly match against HB Koge. This was the first match for Sidwell in five months. He had been struggling with a severe hernia problem since February. Sidwell came to play as a substitute in the second half of the match. Sidwell was moving well on the field and it seemed that he has got rid of the injury completely.

After the match, Sidwell said that it’s wonderful to be back on the field again. As per Sidwell, last five months were very tough for him. He started to think negatively and feared that he would not be able to play football again. He said that recovering from such a serious injury was not easy. He had been working hard on his fitness since the last few months. He is happy that he has recovered completely now.

Sidwell joined Fulham in January 2011. Sidwell’s first match for Fulham was against Stoke City. He played as a substitute in that match. He performed decently in the 2010-11 season. He played in 14 matches and scored 2 goals for Fulham. He also started the 2011-12 season on a good note and played well in the games of Europa League. But, after that, he discovered the hernia injury which ruled him out of the team for a long time.

The manager of Fulham, Martin Jol, has said that it’s good to see Sidwell playing for Fulham again. He is a very good midfielder and a dedicated player. He creates a lot of goal opportunities on the field. His return has strengthened the Fulham side. On being asked about the performance of the team in the pre season matches, he said that the team is playing quite well in the pre season matches, but, the players would have to carry on the good performance in the Premier League matches as well.

Aston Villa’s disappointing season was summed up by Stephen Warnock’s rallying cry with three games to go. For a side of Villa’s stature to be in a relegation scrap with only a handful of games left shows just how poor they have been this season.

Warnock called on his team mates to “stand up and be counted” in the final run in to enable Villa to beat the drop. Villa did eventually manage to avoid the drop, but the fact they were still in trouble with 2 games to go and their eventual sixteenth place finish shows just how disappointing their season has been.

Warnock was open in admitting that Villa were lacking players with experience of surviving relegation battles, with only Warnock, Collins and Heskey having been involved in relegation battles in the past. According to Warnock the problem was clear, “we need fighters now”.

There are plenty of top class players in Villa’s team but they needed something extra after that. It was not all that long ago that Villa were knocking on the door of the top four, but with Martin O’Neil’s departure at the start of the season was the latest and Villa would hope one of the last stages in their decline.

The departure of Alex McLeish straight after the culmination of the season gives the next manager the maximum time to build the new team, and revive Villa. They will certainly be hoping that this season’s relegation scrap will be an exception and they will now be building towards becoming a threat at the right end of the table.

Warnock summed up the problems and showed that the team knew exactly what was needed of them and they did eventually secure safety. Had they got a bit less luck along the way there is every chance that Villa could have been playing in the Championship next season and they will be determined to never have that risk over their heads again.

The exact return date for Steve Sidwell looks to be a matter of luck now, as Fulham will be hoping that the former Aston Villa midfielder will recover in time for the match against Swansea.

Steve Sidwell has had a hernia operation recently and has been out for quite a while now. However, his return will add so much needed strength to the side, which has looked at totally out of depth away from home. To add to the misery, Fulham manager Martin Jol has fallen out with the class leading marksman Bobby Zamora, and it could spell more trouble for the team.

Fulham do need the services of Bobby Zamora, as he is the only player who is capable of getting goals for a regular basis for the London team. The return of Steve Sidwell also becomes extremely crucial due to the fact that captain Danny Murphy is likely to be out for a couple of weeks after suffering a badly swollen ankle. Danny Murphy was the architect for Fulham in their win over Liverpool on Monday, and the absence of the skipper will certainly pose a lot of problems for the visit to Swansea. Swansea’s home form has been inspirational this season, as it has been largely responsible for the team to avoid relegation struggle so far.

It is going to be an extremely tough match and Martin Jol was quick to comment regarding the possible return of Steve Sidwell. “I was a bit disappointed because he [Sidwell] needed a minor operation and they told me maybe he would play the next match after 10 days, but he still feels it – it’s still painful after the operation. But hopefully he will be fit for the next game,” Jol said.