Jordan McGhee has revealed he was suffering with “nine out of 10 pain” for most of last season.
The versatile Dundee man, though, still managed to play through that pain and registered 41 appearances across 2021/22.
That campaign ended in severe disappointment as the Dark Blues were relegated from the Premiership.
However, it was those dire straits combined with injuries to other key players that saw McGhee put the team before his own wellbeing.
And, were it not for the insistence of new manager Gary Bowyer, he may have continued in the same vein at the start of this season, too.
McGhee said: “I was struggling for the best part of a year with both Achilles tendons.
“The gaffer has been brilliant ever since he came in and it was him who pulled me out and told me to go for a scan even though I still wanted to keep playing with it.
“He looked after me and everyone at the club was great with me and I can’t thank them enough.
“Hopefully this is the end of it and I can get back to full steam ahead.
“The pain was there every warm-up, every training session. It was excruciating – nine out of 10 pain.
“Once I got going it wasn’t too bad but I just felt that I had lost the springiness through my Achilles and there was a big loss of power.”
Bottle trouble
McGhee revealed tests showed his left Achilles was only working at 40% of its capacity.
That didn’t only affect things on the pitch but also in life at home with baby Milana to nurture.
“I always remember speaking to the old gaffer James McPake when I tore my pec,” McGhee added.
“He used to say to me you need to look after yourself for after football as he struggled playing with his kids.
“That was the big one for me.
“I was getting up in the morning to try to get the wee one a bottle.
“But walking down the stairs I was in real pain. It was unbearable and I knew things just weren’t right.
“I kept playing with it which obviously made it worse.”
‘All well and good wanting to be the hero’
McGhee made his long-awaited return for Dundee last weekend away at Greenock Morton, playing the final 12 minutes.
And the former Hearts man is keen to get more game time at Ayr United tonight.
“Having to sit out most of pre-season watching the boys do well . . . I just wanted to be out there to show the manager what I am all about but I didn’t have the chance to do that,” he added.
“The right Achilles wasn’t so bad but the left one was worse, especially in the morning.
“It was agony when I got up – just walking on it.
“Touch wood, hopefully I am by that now and I haven’t had any setbacks.
“I just need to manage it myself now in the gym in the mornings
“I certainly don’t want to go back to square one and the way it was playing through the pain.
“It is all well and good wanting to be the hero but you need to look after your body sometimes and put yourself first.”
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