Aaron Ramsey has discussed the horrific injury he sustained at Stoke City in 2010 and his belief that it impacted the rest of his career.
The Wales international midfielder broke both the fibula and tibia in his right leg while the Potters’ Ryan Shawcross was handed a straight red card for the second-half tackle that saw Ramsey sit out a year of his fledgling career.
Ramsey, who is now 33 years old and back at boyhood club Cardiff City, was asked about the injury and the impact it had on his career during an appearance on Sky’s Monday Night Football programme.
He said: “I think it was a massive setback. The way I was going at that point in time, I was in the team, I was playing regular and feeling good and really sort of asserting myself at that level. And then obviously the injury happened.
“And then all kinds of things go through your mind - are you going to play again, are you going to walk again? It wasn’t a nice time.
“But I did have some really good people around me at the time and a lot of messages from people who had suffered similar injuries - I had a double leg break, fib and tib. I've still got the metal rod in the middle of the leg and a couple of screws still in there now."
Asked if he still felt resentment, Ramsey added: “I think the way that Stoke played back then was to try and be aggressive, and against Arsenal [there was a perception of us] being soft, and I think they tried to play on that a little bit, yeah.
“Obviously, I don't think anybody goes out there to break someone's leg, but I think there was definitely a ‘leave a bit on the players’ sort of thing.”
Presenter Dave Jones then asked Ramsey if he believed the injury had had an impact on his career as a whole.
He replied: “I have suffered a load of injuries [over the years] and I think maybe it has had an impact on me in that way. I sort of move differently now and my body had to adapt to certain things. Before, I never really got injured. I was still pretty young and I could play all day, every day.
“But definitely after that I think it's probably had a bit [of an impact] and obviously I’ve still got the metal in my leg as well, and that can have an effect on the body.
“Anything can happen through your career, but from an injury point of view I obviously wish it had never happened. It would have been good to see how I could have been or if I would have been injury free through my career.
“But, I am proud of what I've done in my career, and to come back from that and to still get to the level and play at that level I did, I am proud of that.”
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