Diamonds skipper Marc Fitzpatrick is on the road to recovery after coming through his cruciate operation.

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The midfielder suffered damage to his anterior cruciate ligament in a home match against Alloa Athletic in November and is now undergoing a recovery programme under the watchful eyes of the Airdrie medical staff.

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Marc took time out to speak to airdriefc.com and started by recalling the moment he knew he was injured.

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"I knew something wasn't right straight away. I heard a pop and it was agony at the time, but coming off the pitch and sitting in the changing room it wasn't sore and I was feeling like a bit of a fraud - but apparently that's how it feels when you do your cruciate, you feel like you can go back out and play!

 

"Mick (McLaughlan, head physio) diagnosed it straight away, he came in and said "I think it's your cruciate and I think it's a bad one". Straight away I was preparing myself, but it was gutting to get it confirmed. It's one of these things you just need to get your head round but now I'm at a stage where I can concentrate on taking my recovery step by step.

 

"The surgeon said there's an ideal window of time to go under the knife, and I was smack bang in the middle of that. I really appreciate the Club getting it all sorted for me as quickly as that.

 

"Just now I'm aiming to make a comeback next pre-season, if I get anywhere before that it's a bonus. The worst thing I could do is try to rush back. If there are big games at the end of the season then the boys that are playing are the ones that have got us there.

 

"I'm enjoying coming in to Ravenscraig to do my gym work as I get to see the boys. It's great that we have this facility and I'm not doing the rehab work on my own.

 

"It's frustrating watching the team not doing as well after being on a great winning streak. We've suffered a bit from injuries and suspension, which has contributed to the losses we've suffered but I'm sure we'll get a settled team again.

 

"I think Saturday's game is a good one for us. East Fife are flying, and the last game we played there was an absolute battle. We scrapped out a 1-0 victory in that one and it might be more of the same this week. We need to get back to being a hard team to score against - if we do that we've definitely got the players who can win games for us."

Diamonds head coach Mark Wilson is pleased to see his captain making progress.

 

"Marc was a huge loss just after I came in, he's a real leader in the dressing room. He played in my first three games and was outstanding so it was a big blow to lose him to such a serious injury.

 

"It's good to see him back in good shape, and mentally he's in good form after his operation. He's a strong character and he'll batter through his rehab, and I fully expect him to come back stronger."