Jonah Ayunga admits it was “frustrating” to not be able to contribute to St Mirren’s push for European football.
The powerful striker was enjoying a dream debut season in Paisley after joining from Morecambe, having netted seven times – including against both sides of the Old Firm – to help the Buddies force their way towards the top six.
But his campaign came to a shuddering halt when he ruptured his anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee in January while playing against Motherwell, a serious injury that required reconstructive surgery in March.
While the Saints still managed to march into the top six without him, 26-year-old Ayunga was gutted he couldn’t help his team-mates finish even higher and book a European adventure this summer.
He told St Mirren TV: “The injury was initially at the end of January, around five months ago, and then I had the operation on the second of March. I’m coming up to 18 weeks now since the operation.
“It was a clean ACL, isolated with no other damage. It was a full rupture and for the repair they take the middle third of your patella tendon, with a bit of bone on either end, and reroute that where your old ACL was. It’s quite an invasive operation.
“To be fair I’ve stayed pretty level through the whole thing.
“I’ve had a long-term injury before so it’s about getting your head around the fact it’s happened and then deal with it. Because you can’t change the fact it’s happened.
“The only real worry is hoping you come back at the same level, or close to it, because it’s a long time to be out. It’s a big injury so you hope you can get back to the same level.
“I was really enjoying it. That’s what was so annoying about the injury, because the season was going really well.
“Obviously we did achieve top six, which was great, but I think we definitely could have got fifth and there were games when it was so frustrating not to play in and help out.”
While still a few months away from returning to action, Ayunga has stepped up his rehabilitation with club physio Gerry Docherty.
The towering forward spent last week in Belfast with the Buddies on their pre-season training camp, with the Englishman delighted to be back involved with his Buddies in the gym and increasingly on the training pitch.
Ayunga said: “I’m just dealing with each step put in front of me. It’s been smooth so far.
“Every stage we’ve gone through well and been ahead of schedule sometimes.
“Now it’s about hitting the targets and feeling secure enough to return.
“I’ve been working with higher weights recently and getting more functional. I’ve started a tiny bit of running which I’ll progress in the next few weeks.
“I’m around the boys all day now, and when they’re in the gym I am as well, so I feel compared to the last few months I’m that bit closer to getting back involved again.
“If I need the whole nine months to recover I’ll take it, but I’m hoping to be back in between seven and eight.”
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