Gibson recalls ‘devastation’ of cruciate injury

As competitive international games go, it was about as close to a meaningless friendly as you can get, but Ireland against Kazakhstan at the Aviva Stadium last October — the dead rubber game which brought a doomed World Cup qualifying campaign for both nations to a close — turned out to be a red-letter night, in the worst possible way, for Darron Gibson.

Just a little over half an hour into the game, the Everton midfielder’s knee buckled in a challenge for the ball and, in evident distress, was stretchered off in front of his watching club manager Roberto Martinez. Then came confirmation of the seriousness of the damage done — a cruciate ligament injury which would require surgery and, ultimately, sideline the player for 10 long months.

Tonight, against Oman, in the same stadium, Gibson will finally make his return to the Irish team but, though he knows exactly where on the pitch the incident happened, he won’t, as they say, be going there.

“I thought about it to be honest but, no, I don’t think there is any point,” says the Derryman. “I’m past the injury and my knee feels good. I know exactly where it is but I won’t be thinking about it.”

That game last October was only Gibson’s second for Ireland in what was his first comeback to international football, after his fury at not being selected for the final game of the Euro 2012 finals, prompted him to withdraw his services until a new manager had replaced Giovanni Trapattoni.

After the Italian’s departure, caretaker boss Noel King duly recalled Gibson for the final World Cup qualifying games against Germany and Kazakhstan but, following his long lay-off, it’s only now, under the new regime of Martin O’Neill and Roy Keane, that Gibson feels he finally has a real chance to stake a claim to a permanent place in the Irish midfield.

“Obviously being out for 10 months last season gave me time to think about things,” says the 26-year-old. “I think it’s now or never, really. (The injury) made me realise I’m not getting any younger. I need to start playing games. I need to start doing well for myself.

“The manager hasn’t seen me play for a while so tonight is a good opportunity. It’s a big opportunity. I’ve played in all the pre-season games and I’ve got through pre-season without anything. The knee feels good, I feel fit. I’m looking forward to it.”

Recalling that black night last October, Gibson says: “It was my second game back. It was tough for me. I was devastated when I did it. The staff and players at Everton helped me through it. It’s been tough but the physios have been unbelievable and they made it quite easy for me.

“Low moments? There’s been a few, to be honest with you. I struggled at the start mentally but I had to get used to the idea. I think the hardest thing was going every week to Goodison and watching the lads and knowing I should be playing and there wasn’t really much I could do about it.

“It is very hard, you want to be playing and training every day and it takes a bit of getting used to, but after a couple of months I got my head around it being a long-term injury and getting through it. Thankfully I came out the other end.”