Harley happy to be back for Peterborough United after a long and arduous road to recovery
There was a rare piece of good injury news for Peterborough United at Leyton Orient on Saturday as Harley Mills made his first appearance for three months.
The 20 year-old actually returned to action quicker than many anticipated after he suffered a nasty hamstring injury in training soon after the derby day home win over Northampton Town at the Weston Homes Stadium in the middle of December.
But it was still a long and arduous road to recovery for a player who impressed first-team boss Luke Williams with his attitude and determination from day one of his rehab.
Mills made the sort of entry at the BetWright Stadium he didn’t want as a replacement for the latest Posh injury victim, skipper Carl Johnston after half an hour of a 2-1 League One loss.
"It’s been a long road back, but this was what I was working so hard towards,” Mills told the Posh Plus service. “CJ had been playing brilliantly at left-back so it was disappointing to see him pick up an injury, but I suppose it’s part of football and you just have to be ready to play.
"I went into the game not expecting to play so many minutes, but it’s what the team needed so I was happy to do it.
"My own injury was a bad one, but all you can do is make sure you do everything you have to do to get back as quickly as possible. I worked with physio Jon Chatfield and his staff and they were brilliant with me. We made sure we ticked every box before I came back. You can’t leave boxes unticked with a hamstring injury.
"It was frustrating as I’d played eight or nine games for the new Gaffer and I was loving it. I felt I had some momentum so the injury came at a bad time.
"It was great to be back though. The back four all trusted each other. It was tough coming on in the middle of a half, but once I found my feet I felt fine.
"It’s now a case of getting as many points on the board as possible. We don’t need to be talking about safety or whatever. We have bodies coming back soon so we can have a right good go right up until the end of the season.”
Posh are next in League One action at home to third from bottom Rotherham United on Tuesday (7.45pm kick off). It’s not thought any of the other injured players, Tom Lees, Sam Hughes, Ben Woods, Matty Garbett, Harry Leonard and Donay O’Brien-Brady will return for that game. Midfielder Woods is thought to be the closest to a return.
Johnston is expected to face a lengthy absence with a calf injury. Posh boss Luke Williams is due to speak to the media on Monday afternoon.