Kennedy reins in on Celtic return

Celtic defender John Kennedy admits he has to control his desire to throw himself headlong into his return to playing.

Kennedy got his first taste of football for two and a half years when he came on towards the end of a reserve game at Motherwell last week.

He suffered extensive knee injuries on his Scotland debut in a horrific tackle by Romania striker Vio Ganea in March 2004.

The centre-half had hoped to return earlier in the season but some “niggling injuries” forced a delay.

Kennedy said: “I was surprised how calm I was. All along this has been the main aim, the big goal, and I was fine, even when I was going on to the pitch.

“I feel as if I could go out and batter straight into games but that’s not how it works. You need to be clever about things.

“I’ve been out for a long time and I need to build it up slowly.”

Kennedy had just broken into Martin O’Neill’s first team when he was injured and now finds himself having to force his way into Gordon Strachan’s plans.

Kennedy told Celtic View: “Since the new manager came in I’ve been injured but I’m back training now and hopefully I can impress and get back into the team.

“However, there’s no massive rush. I spoke to the manager and he told me the same. He wants me to go at my own pace and he will never push me.”

Despite undergoing four operations by US surgeon Richard Steadman, the 23-year-old says the psychological effects of not playing have been harder to cope with.

He said: “The mental battle is as big as anything and it’s the hardest to work on because it’s up to you and no-one else.

“Physically people can help you along the way but the mental side is totally different.

“Setbacks, niggling injuries, it can really get on top of you and affects you mentally more than anything else.

“If you start getting depressed the whole side of getting back to playing football goes out of the window, because your head is all over the place.

“Luckily, it’s not been the case with me. Things have been pretty good along the way and everybody has managed to keep me in good spirits.

“The worst I have felt was last year when I got back to training and re-injured myself.

“I was at my lowest then because I was buzzing being back in training. I had signed my contract and then a day later I’m on the treatment table.

“The few days before I got the okay from Dr Steadman were touch and go as well.

“I didn’t know if it was going to be okay again, or whether I was always going to have problems with my knee. Thankfully, he managed to sort that and I’m back on track again.”