Cleverley Buzzing At Return

Midfielder Tom Cleverley discusses his return to fitness in an exclusive interview. This article first appeared in Red View, the club's free official newsletter.

You must be delighted to be back after spending six weeks on the sidelines?
Definitely. The injury was bad timing. I was in the team, I was playing well and enjoying myself. These things happen in football though and you've just got to work hard on getting yourself fit, listen to what the physios say and stay upbeat.

How good did it feel to be back in action against Aldershot?
It felt great. It helps when you've got fantastic players around you as you can bed yourself in and work your way up to being 100 per cent.

A lot of fans have said how much they feel the team has missed you in recent weeks - that must be nice to hear but does it put extra pressure on you?
It's always nice to hear, but there's a bit of pressure [on everyone] anyway because last weekend's game was a bad result. At the start of the season, the whole team was very fluent and we were playing fantastic football. The games have been harder in recent weeks and it's very flattering to hear fans say they've missed me.

What do comments like that say about how far you've come this season?
It's been brilliant. Things went a little better than I expected at the start of the season and then I was disappointed to get injured, but I'm buzzing to be back now and hopefully we can get back to winning ways on Saturday.

Is there a positive feeling in the camp despite the derby result?
Yes definitely. We've got a great team spirit. We'll regroup and go forward from here.