Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Ross Matthews opens up on ‘mentally tough’ injury hell as Raith Rovers ace reveals ‘Shockwave’ redemption ahead of Aberdeen clash

Matthews in action
Matthews in action

Ross Matthews is growing accustomed to his pain management system.

Regular ice-baths; anti-inflammatory medication; shockwave therapy, a process which shoots impulses of energy to problem areas of the area.

All of which are intended to mitigate the persistent, mystery foot injury which has plagued the 25-year-old for most of 2021.

The underlying issue has not been cured, mainly because the underlying issue has not been identified.

However, this cocktail of mediation allowed Matthews to get back on the pitch against Inverness on Saturday.

Matthews battles Kirk Broadfoot at the weekend

It was his first appearance of the campaign and he completed the full 90 minutes, snapping into tackles and covering the yards in his usual fashion. Touch wood, he seems to have found a solution.

Matthews is, to an extent, still playing through the pain barrier.

But the thought of being sidelined for any longer hurts far more.

“It’s more about managing the issue and I’m still waiting to see a few people,” Matthews told Courier Sport. “I’ve had shockwave therapy and that helped to get the swelling down, which is the main thing.

“I’ve been told that there will be no problems with the bone or the muscle — but there was something inside the joint which was causing the inflammation. We still haven’t got to the bottom of that.

“I tried antibiotics — in case it was a viral infection — and everything else you can think of.

‘Tough’: Matthews

“But every time I did any impact training, it would swell up again and be uncomfortable.

“However, that [shockwave] treatment, along with icing it after training and taking some anti-inflammatories, has helped.

“People keep asking me what the problem is and I wish I could tell them!”

Indeed, that uncertainty has been the toughest part of the last few months for Matthews, an all-action midfielder who, by his own admission, does not deal well with being sidelined.

“I was getting told all sorts of things from different people,” he rued. “So, you wonder what is really wrong and when you’ll be able to get back on the pitch.

“That was mentally tough. I’d rather someone could say: ‘you’ve damaged some ligaments, it’ll be a couple of months out’.”

Aberdeen scalp

Now back in the Rovers side — and not a moment too soon, given playmaker Brad Spencer suffered a fractured foot last week — Matthews will be key if the Fifers are to stun Aberdeen on Sunday.

Boss John McGlynn has described the Dons as the most in-form team in Scotland at the moment and Matthews shares that admiration.

In-form: Dons

“I’ve been really impressed by Aberdeen,” he continued. “They play some great stuff — as do we — and I think it will be a good game for the neutral.

“You want to test yourself in matches like that. Scott Brown gets a lot of attention but he is surrounded by top quality midfielders and, as you go through the team, there are threats everywhere.

“But you’ve got to try to rise to the challenge.”