Scott Bevan certain of a Bristol Rovers comeback

LONG-term injury victim Scott Bevan is confident that he will soon be back playing for Bristol Rovers again amid fears that his career was close to a premature end.

Bevan underwent surgery to try and correct a long-standing wrist complaint at the end of May and has yet to feature this season.

The goalkeeper is still some way off a return to action, but will seek a second opinion on the injury later this week after fears were expressed by manager Mark McGhee last month that the continuing problem was potentially career-threatening.

Bevan, though, is confident that he will soon be back in action – even though the likelihood is that pain management of the affected area is to be required for the remainder of his playing days.

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He said: "There has been a slight improvement of the problem over the last two or three weeks. I've started to do a bit of handling work and that has given me a little spring in my step.

"Years of being a goalkeeper have taken a toll on my wrist, so there is a lot of wear and tear in there and the surgery has probably made the problem worse to a degree.

"I'm due to see a surgeon later on this week to get a second opinion and to see if there is anything he can do.

"There is a possible option of further surgery, but I am very hesitant to go down that route. It is one of those injuries which I'll have to accept will always cause me a bit of pain, so I'll have to deal with that.

"I'm confident that I'll be back playing again. I was a bit scared about it, I'm not going to deny that, but I have never entertained any thoughts that I might not play again."

Bevan, meanwhile, has returned to very light training, but is cautious over a potential return date, and he added: "Recovery is a slow process and I'm just taking things one step at a time.

"It's difficult to put a timeframe on when I will play again. I'm hoping that there will be another couple of weeks of handling and then I may be able to join in with the lads in training again."

McGhee, pictured, has sought to keep Bevan involved by making him a temporary part of his back room staff and the goalkeeper added: "The manager has been fantastic to me in that regard. Being injured or losing form are the worst things to experience in football.

"You are often isolated from the rest of the group and you don't feel part of the team. The manager has kept me involved in training on a match day and that has been good for me."

Bevan was at Accrington Stanley on Saturday to watch Rovers suffer their second successive defeat and he added: "Wimbledon and Accrington are games we'd hoped to get a good points return from, but it hasn't worked out like that.

"It was disappointing to lose in the way we did on Saturday after a run of games where we had started to look like a good team.

"It has knocked us back a bit and we have to do our best to put things right before we play Sheffield United in the FA Cup on Saturday.

"We're not expected to beat them because they are a big team and are flying, but it's a great game for us and I'm sure the lads will give a good account of themselves."

McGhee, meanwhile, continued his search to bring a midfielder on loan yesterday by casting an eye over a potential target at a reserve team game on the way to watch Saturday's FA Cup opponents Sheffield United at Bramall Lane last night.