Peterborough United's Rio Adebisi is not giving up on return to the pitch despite two years of injury hell

The left-back has been absolutely plagued by injuries since arriving at the club in the summer of 2024.

The now 25-year-old arrived at the club having been an ever-present for Crewe and leading them to the Play-Off Final.

He never got the opportunity to showcase his talent to his new club though as he sustained cartilage damage in his right knee during pre-season that required surgery. Thus began a two-year long battle with injury that has seen his Posh career limited to just one 14-minute substitute appearance ever since.

Adebisi has been speaking about his experiences in an in-depth interview on the Posh Unfiltered podcast.

First surgery

His first surgery was required in the summer of 2024 due to the cartilage coming away in his right knee joint.

He said: “You want to come to a place and you are desperate to show people how good you are. When I found out I needed surgery, that hurt me the most.

“Having my family so close helped and the fact that, when I was at Crewe, I was out for ten months with a foot injury, where I had two surgeries. I had already been through it and dealt with it."

His first injury lay-off took him up until December 20, 2024 when he was finally able to make his debut away at Stockport. He came off the bench in a 2-1 defeat for Posh in the 78th minute.

It may have appeared as is there was light at the end of the tunnel at this point but unfortunately, he has not been on the pitch since.

Adebisi described not feeling right before the match and this ultimately ended up requiring yet more surgery with more cartilage coming away from his knee.

False dawn

He said: “Maybe I came back too early. It then went again and I needed a much more serious surgery.

“I was gutted because I’d worked so hard for that four of five months and I was going to be back and you question everything you have done before.

“Looking back, I should probably have taken my time but I was fighting to get back and show people what I am about.

"I remember going to Stockport, I remember feeling like I probably shouldn’t have been playing because I remember having knee swelling but I was just happy to be there and get out onto the pitch.

Initially, after the game, I felt good. There was a sense of relief that I got through it. We trained at Christmas and still felt fine in a one-on-one session but then my knee swelled up on Christmas Day and I went for a scan on the 27th where they told me I had more cartilage broken off.

"I knew I wasn’t right and I probably needed somebody to pull me off the pitch but hearing that news, I wanted to know what to do to fix it.”

Second surgery

This fresh surgery saw Adebisi’s kneecap rotated to stop some of the rubbing of cartilage and bone that was causing much of the problems.

He was given an initial recovery time of six to nine months.

Towards the end of the year, he was again starting to make real progress towards a recovery and was even seen of the pitch doing some running drills prior to Lincoln vs Posh at Sincil Bank on January 4.

Problems had been festering for months though as Adebisi then began to suffer pain in his left knee after using it so much to compensate for his right when going through his rehab.

Since then. he has had a similar surgery on his left knee that he had on the right the second time around.

Surgery in the other knee

He said: “I just took the brunt of it and got the big surgery for the sake of my career.

"When I get back on the pitch, everything that could have been done will have been done and hopefully I will be absolutely sweet.

Through everything, Adebisi’s commitment to getting back on the pitch has been unwavering and even in moments where his family have questioned him if he even wants to continue, his answer has always been clear.

He said: “All I want to do it play football. A lot of fans don’t know what goes on on a day-to-day basis. It is very lonely. I’m in the gym before everyone else, they go out to training and I'm still there. I see them at lunch and then I’m back in the gym and they’re off elsewhere.

“When you are injured, you are on the outside of the team. You don’t get to bond with everyone else as much. We're not fighting for each other every day. I’m on my own schedule.

“I remember my mum messaging me asking me if I want to still play football and I told her I will always want to play football. It’s the only thing I know and the only thing I want to do. I want to come back and prove people wrong. I don’t think my mentality will ever change.

“I just want to be able to run around now with my son and football will come next.”

There is still no return date set for Adebisi.

To find the full podcast, search Posh Unfiltered on Spotify.