Cameron Jerome reveals how he refused to let his Birmingham City team mates down despite injury
Feb 17 2010 by Colin Tattum, Birmingham Mail
CAMERON Jerome has revealed how he defied medical advice in order not to let down his Blues team-mates.
Jerome took a whack to the face and jaw from Chris Barker at Derby County with the FA Cup tie finely poised at 1-1.
He received lengthy treatment and admitted he felt dazed and groggy.
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But, with all Blues substitutes used, he opted to soldier on for the remaining ten minutes or so of normal and added time.
Blues nabbed a dramatic winner through Liam Ridgewell to book their passage into the quarter-finals.
“I got an elbow in the jaw. It was a poor challenge to be fair. I was looking at the ball and he caught me square in the jaw.
“I went into a bit of a daze, just the shock of it. I wanted to stay on, even if it was just to make a nuisance of myself as a body.
“Tim Williamson the physio said I should come off. I was on the sideline and couldn’t really see much.
“I didn’t know what was going on too much. I just thought I’d give it a go anyway. I grinded through it for a couple of minutes and tried to get around the pitch.
“It wasn’t nice getting a blow like that, but it’s part and parcel of football.
“Plenty of people have been in the same boat and carried on having got a crack on the head or jaw.
“At least we got through. I didn’t want to let the boys down.”
Jerome has missed just one game since October.
He rejected suggestions that he and others who have played virtually non-stop should be rested.
Mental and physical fatigue has been highlighted as a possible reason for some indifferent displays of late.
“The goal was a little bit of a soft goal to concede. That gave us a gee up.
“Kevin Phillips came on and made a great impact, Keith Fahey and Craig Gardner again too.
“That’s what it’s all about: having a great squad of players you can call upon coming off the bench who can make a mark.
“The gaffer tactically played that right. Although it wasn’t a brilliant performance, we battled and showed great character again. It was about the result.”
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