Liam Davis on his return to action
Saturday saw a welcome return to action for Liam Davis, who made his first start of the season in the 0-0 draw with Torquay. After a cameo appearance as a substitute the previous Tuesday against Dagenham, the former Northampton left-back came through his first 90 minutes at the weekend, and swiftly slotted straight back into the side. Liam has watched most games from the stands this season but was all smiles after making his return.
“It’s totally different when you’re put there,” he laughed as he spoke to Yellow Player. ”It’s a bit more nerve-wracking when you are up in the stands watching instead of playing, and it’s a lot easier in the stands as well! I’ve got to get my match fitness up, but a few more games and I think I’ll be back to my normal self.”
Liam’s dashing forward runs add balance to United’s attack, but it was the defensive side of his game that came to the fore as United bounced back from defeat against Dagenham to keep a clean sheet:
“The Dagenham game was very different. Torquay played in a different way so we had a little bit of a different game plan. The main thing for the defence was to keep the ball out of our net and we managed to do that. We worked on set pieces during the week and I thought we did well with them on Saturday, and at the other end we still created chances, and could have possibly got a penalty at the end; sometimes you get them, sometimes you don’t.”
A long-term groin problem troubled the popular defender through the second half of last season and required an operation in the summer, but Liam is starting to feel back at his best and believes there is more to come:
“It felt tough” he confessed. “I’m obviously happy to have got through the game and get 90 minutes, and we got a point and a clean sheet, so we can move on from that in a positive manner and take that on to Chesterfield.”
See the whole interview, plus the thoughts of Chris Wilder and Jake Wright and Match Highlights from Saturday, all in Yellow Player.