He had played many other times at the Antonio Puchades stadium at the Ciudad Deportiva, but last Wednesday was a special occasion for Marc Ferris, a right back who has been at the VCF Academy for many years and who in recent years has suffered three serious knee injuries.

A trio of cruciate ligament ruptures -two to his right knee and one to his left- in 2017, 2018 and 2019, have proved frustrating for Ferris, but the defender was able to not only return but also play an unofficial match fro the first team in the friendly against Atromitos FC.

He featured for 45 minutes in the preseason encounter, at the venue where he had suffered all three injuries.

"The Antonio Puchades has seen me fall several times, but it has also seen me get back up" comments the fullback, one of the captains of VCF Mestalla last season. He continues to work with the first team, with an eye on gaining further experience of senior action.