Aston Villa buoyed as Wilfred Bouma close to a first-team comeback

Mar 26 2009 by Bill Howell, Birmingham Mail

“You know that after your rehab you still have a contract there for you.

“You don’t have to worry about it when you are injured. That helped me straightaway.

“Just hours after I had opened my eyes from the operation the manager was there, he talked to me and told me the injury wouldn’t change anything because the deal was there.

“Next year I’m still under contract with Villa.

“The aim now is to hopefully get some games this year and if not to do a good pre-season and get back into the team.”

Bouma revealed the doubts that existed in his mind as he struggled initially to come to terms with the severity of the injury.

“There were some doubts in my head in the beginning,” he said, “but the doctor and physios told me it would be okay.

“You just have to be patient. That’s the hardest thing.

“I told myself that there are much worse things in the world than Freddy’s ankle.

“I said to myself ‘other people can cope with other things, why can’t I cope’?

“That made me strong.Other players who have had injuries like this have come back so my goal was to play again because this is the best thing for me, playing football.”

Bouma insists he has never felt out on the fringes despite eight months on the sidelines.

“I never really felt out of the team because I was with the boys everyday and they all kept me involved,” he said.

He also had a word of praise for the supporters who have turned him into something of cult figure.

“The supporters are wonderful. During my rehab I got a lot of mail and they really encouraged me to come back.”