My knee feels strong - and so do Bognor's chances of success

Rocks full-back Calvin Davies is refreshed and ready for a big season after virtually two years on the sidelines.
Calvin Davies gets stuck in against Dorking / Picture: Trevor StaffCalvin Davies gets stuck in against Dorking / Picture: Trevor Staff
Calvin Davies gets stuck in against Dorking / Picture: Trevor Staff

Rocks full-back Calvin Davies is refreshed and ready for a big season after virtually two years on the sidelines.

The defender spent 18 months overcoming a serious ACL tear before losing another six months of football through coronavirus restrictions.

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But with a full pre-season under his belt, Davies is looking forward to the new Isthmian premier campaign, confident in the strength of his knee – and the potential of the squad.

Davies feels the extra time out of the game may have been as a blessing, stating: “The knee feels great at the moment, probably because I’ve had a long break and had more time to work on it.

“At the start of last season, I was still feeling pain in my knee, but now it feels really stable, just a little bit of stiffness which is expected with knee injuries.”

Davies said a full pre-season had benefitted his recovery as he hadn’t needed to rush a return during a busy campaign. The nature of friendlies has allowed the defender to test his knee at the appropriate pace.

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“Trying to make a mid-season comeback is always difficult, as you only get to play 20 or 30 minutes against very good teams. In pre-season, you usually get about 45 minutes or so which is much better when you’re trying to get back to full strength,” he said.

Despite the lengthy spell out, Davies has returned to a similar environment and atmosphere at the Nye Camp, with familiar faces Harvey Whyte and James Crane among the senior men in the dressing room.

Davies, 23, is pleased with the Rocks’ recruitment, saying Bognor should be eyeing a promotion push this campaign.

“I think the recruitment’s been brilliant. We’ve brought some great players in. Maybe we could do with one or two more, but we’ve got a couple to come back from injury yet,” he said.

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“When we get a full squad together, we really should be pushing for the league title, in all honesty.”

Davies hopes the outlook of the experienced players will help establish a positive culture at theclub and breed a winning mentality.

“The players that have been there a long time, Harvey, Craney – I’d like to include myself in that bracket too – set the standard for the new boys coming in. We know what’s expected from the manager and sometimes it’s important for the players to set the standards for the session, because it shouldn’t be down to Jack and Blakey to demand that of us every time. We should demand things from each other.”

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