Marcos Rojo has opened up on the mental and physical challenge needed to deal with injury setbacks at Manchester United.
The Argentine defender missed the first 20 matches of the season for United and has been unable to build upon an encouraging World Cup showing for Argentina last summer.
Rojo made his first United appearance of the season last month when he impressed during a 2-2 draw with Arsenal at Old Trafford, but managed just another 78 minutes of senior football before being handed another setback last month.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer revealed on Tuesday that Rojo has been sent back home to Argentina as he continues his recovery from his latest setback, and the player has revealed just how hard it has been to cope with so many injuries in recent years.
“The worst thing about it is that it is the second year running I have not been able to have a full pre-season with my team-mates,” he told United Review in late December.
“I’ve not been fit enough to start playing at the beginning of the season and immediately that puts you on the back foot, at a disadvantage to the rest of the squad.
“You don’t get the chance to start the season and get a full pre-season in order to be totally fit, which is important. That’s unfortunate for me but I didn’t have any choice in the matter. These kind of things can happen in football. That’s the game of football. It can happen to anyone and this time it happened to be me.
“It’s all about being strong mentally. I am strong mentally and it is now about turning it around and starting again. I’m always going to fight hard to earn my place in the side.”