MAX PORTER has revealed the secret to his latest comeback for a career threatening injury, following a programme created for England striker Daniel Sturridge, with a little help from the England physios.

The 27-year old has missed 12 weeks of action due to a groin injury, making his comeback in the victory over York City and playing three times in the past fortnight.

It’s just reward for a player who didn’t take a summer break and was working diligently on his fitness when he broke down again after two injury-ravaged years, revealing that his latest setback was more serious than people realised and has led to some dark moments.

“I stayed up in Newport all summer, we didn’t go home to Essex, or on holiday, I tried to get myself in really top shape and I did, but then when we started again I just had a freak injury, a partial avulsion fracture, which means the tendon had come away from the bone,” Porter revealed.

“I can’t praise the club enough, they said it was a groin strain when the injury happened to protect me from more scrutiny, but it was more serious than that.

“I’ve had tremendous support from the club. (Physio) Adam Roche has been great with me and I was lucky enough to get to go back to St George’s Park as well.

“It’s been really tough and I have had times when I’ve been really down. I can be a grumpy person anyway and I’m much worse when I’m injured.

“It’s hard to put into words how I felt. I missed the best part of two years with groin problems, trained all summer and then I’m in the same boat again, for about three weeks afterwards I was shot, I was just so down in the dumps, it was really tough.

“I know it’s a cliché, but the club sticking by me really did make all the difference.”

Porter revealed his injury and the form of County’s midfielders led to some serious doubts in his mind.

“Being on the sidelines never gets any easier. It was the same in the Conference, until Christmas I was one of our most consistent performers but then I watched the team get promoted and I wondered if I’d ever get back in the team,” he said.

“I was in tears, happy and sad, when we went up; could I get back to that level? It was the same earlier this season,” he said. “I watched Mark Byrne and Adam Chapman against Cambridge and thought, how am I going to get to this level? We’ve gone up again. Even if I get fit, am I going to be good enough?

“It’s the same now. You sit and dwell on a lot of stuff when you’re sidelined, but our midfield has been outstanding this season, I’d be lying if I said I haven’t doubted myself.”

However, the help of England’s physio team has helped to boost Porter.

“The PFA let me go up to George’s Park again and I had Paul Williamson working with me again but also Gary Lewin and Steve Kemp, the England physio and assistant physio, the knowledge I picked up will stand me in good stead on managing my body,” he said.

“It is similar to the programme Daniel Sturridge is on at Liverpool, I spoke with the England physio team about his injury and he’s in a similar position to me in terms of being limited in how much he can train.

“We’ve tried to apply the same methods here and touch wood, so far, it is working."