Reaction: Dele-Bashiru On Injury Return At Derby

Tom Dele-Bashiru spoke to watfordfc.com after playing his first 45 minutes since October following a knee injury.

The midfielder featured in the first-half of the 2-0 victory over Derby County at Pride Park, before being withdrawn as planned.

Read what he had to say below:

On how he found returning to the first-team:

“It was good. Obviously it was really good to be back out on the pitch. This has been a really painful period for me being injured again. It’s been really stop-start for me at Watford, so just being back out on the pitch and helping the team was really good.”

On the nature of his injury:

“It was a small knee injury. I had fluid in my knee, so it was affecting the function of the knee so we had to try our best to drain that fluid. Now, most of it is gone, so hopefully I can push on.”

On how it feels being out:

“Very, very frustrating. It was very painful but you know you have to work hard and just push through it. and I’m just happy to be back on the pitch.”

On finding out he would be starting:

“Yeah, I was really happy. I was a little bit surprised as I thought I would still have to build up my minutes, but yeah Clevs told me I was starting. I was happy and ready for the challenge. I think I did alright for my first 45 in a while.”

On being withdrawn at half-time:

“Yeah, that was the plan, to limit my minutes and then build from there.”

On returning in a winning performance:

“Yeah, the lads are buzzing. I think this win is very important as after a few bad performances and a few bad results, it’s very important to show we still have belief in ourselves and what we are trying to do this season.

“I think performances like that where we really dig it out shows that the team is committed and we know we are going to face challenges, but we are not going to give up and just keep going.”

On working hard for Tom Cleverley:

“Yeah, all the lads love Clevs. We always work hard for him as he puts a lot of faith in the players and he’s improving a lot of the players, and he gives us confidence by telling us to go out there and play with freedom and enjoy ourselves.

“So yeah, we do it for ourselves, but we do it for him to repay him for his confidence in us.”

On being a point outside the play-offs:

“We had our targets at the start of the season, and we’ve had some bad results and they can look like the end of the world but we are still confident.

“We still believe in what we do, and we know this a good team and we think we can reach the play-offs.”