Rob Atkinson admitted a serious illness after the 3-2 victory over Peterborough in October had a huge impact on his form and fitness leading to him putting on weight which carried an extra burden on his body.
The £1.6million summer signing from Oxford seemingly had no issues making the step up from the National League to League One and then the Championship within two years having started the campaign brightly.
Atkinson, 23, played the full 90 minutes in the first 11 league matches of the season before his run in the side was halted after the Posh win having missed the following game against Bournemouth after the international break.
Manager Nigel Pearson said at the time that Atkinson was carrying an illness but he would later return to the team against Nottingham Forest on October 19 where he struggled to recapture the form he showed in the earlier part of the campaign.
Back in January, Pearson then provided another update on the centre-back admitting he "not really recovered fully, it appears." The manager added: "My expectation of players is probably a bit more realistic but he’s going to have tough it out, I’m afraid. I would imagine Ryley getting picked ahead of him, if I was him I’d be a bit unhappy about that but... tough!”
However, it appears the severity of Atkinson's illness was perhaps downplayed after revealing the impact it had on his game both physically and mentally.
Speaking ahead of Friday's fixture with Stoke, he said: "I got quite badly ill after the Peterborough away game so there was then an international break and I got really ill over the international break. I missed the Bournemouth game as a result and then from every game I was really struggling.
"It was getting worse and worse and even in training I was struggling to get going and felt lethargic and heavy and ultimately it resulted in me coming out of the team and being on and off the bench and not being able to string consistent performances together which is important if you're a defender."
Atkinson would then hobble off injured in the 3-2 win over Cardiff on January 22, managing just 16 minutes and spent six weeks on the sidelines recovering before returning against Birmingham in March.
"Ultimately it led to me being injured because I'd put on quite a lot of weight without really knowing that I had," he added.
"I think that was why my calf and my back gave up. I used the time off injured to get better with my body and the mental side and I feel all the better for it. Now I'm reaping the rewards and I feel really good. I like to think I'm doing alright on the pitch.
"It was just rest and not having that pressure of playing and knowing that you've got a few weeks and relaxing and focusing on the comeback. Thinking about how I wanted to be on the comeback and I was a lot lighter, we worked with the medical teams to lose weight and at the same time had rehab on the back and the calf.
"Working on things that can help me and make it easier for me to play. Less cumbersome and ultimately that's down to the medical staff and the physios and that's allowed me to feel really good now thanks to those guys."
Atkinson is certainly making up for lost time, scoring in back-to-back contests at Bournemouth and then in last weekend's draw with Peterborough with two bullet headers.
The defender managed a wry smile when he made a tongue in cheek comment by saying "unfortunately for me now there's massive pressure on me now to make it back to back to back."
But he puts his goalscoring flurry down to adding more aggression to his game, something he puts down to manager Pearson.
He added: "From a personal point of view I like to think I've been a lot more aggressive with the person marking me, allowing me to get a run.
"Naturally being quite big and having that presence you naturally attract the best marker in the other team so you have to be aggressive and get that yard. I like to think that I have a good vertical jump too so a mixture of both allows me to get above people.
"I'd have to give credit to the gaffer, he's always encouraged aggressiveness whether that's in training or the game so he gets credit for that.
"I've always wanted to add goals to my game so it's always something I look for when I've watched football, players like myself so in certain situations, whether that's corners or free-kicks or throw-ins, I would look to see what they would do to get space or an edge over the opponent.
"It's a bit weird scoring two in a row, I was talking to Bake's (Nathan Baker) and he was telling me how he's never gone back to back and after that goal, you score you really want to go back to back. Fortunately for me, Jay (Dasilva) put in a beautiful ball and all I had to do was steer it goalwards."
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