Soler: "I have to take things calmly, but I'm getting better every day"

Carlos Soler returned to training with his Valencia CF teammates this week, and on Friday he gave his thoughts on his recovery and comeback in an interview with VCF Media Radio.

His condition

"I feel good, and I'm getting better every day. I've been training with the ball out on the pitch with my teammates for several days now. After almost 50 days away from the pitch, I'm getting my feeling back gradually, because it's a tricky injury that I dealt with before with my other ankle, and I have the experience of how to deal with it.

"I've worked very hard and the physios and recovery coach have helped me a lot, because without them it would be much more difficult. I'm starting to participate in almost the entire sessions with my teammates, and from next week I will be back in full training."

Returning to the group

"In the end, it's about getting back out onto the pitch, which is where everything happens. I've been training in the mornings and afternoons with the medical team, and I'm fairly happy at the moment. I still have a way to go to get back to my best, but it will come with training and playing."

Taking things steady

"I knew that this injury was rather tricky, and if you come back at less than 100%, you're going to feel it. I want to train, and when I am feeling the best I can, I'll be available to the coach."

"I spent 4-5 weeks with my ankle completely immobilised. I've been walking for two weeks and now I'm running, but I have to take things calmly, because hurrying isn't good -especially with this type of injury. I feel pretty good, and I'm getting better with every day that goes by."

A tough return

"I'm not going to lie: It's tough. You come in early in the morning, go home for lunch, come back to training, then go home for dinner. It's tough, but at the end of the day it's what I have to do in order to recover. It isn't as much of a chore as before, when I couldn't run or play with the ball."

Celades

"He's the one who took me to the European Championships in 2017. I played one game in that competition, but I was really happy to be there. Then I played under him for the Spain Under-21s. He works well, he's very insistent with his ideas, he likes you to have the ball and he likes to attack. His ideas are very clear, and we've been working on them in the few sessions I've had with him."

Recent form

"The coach knows what we can offer him. I think that we've been seeing more of his identity in the team recently. In the last two LaLiga games before the international break, we earned two important victories. We played very well at San Mamés and got the win against Alavés. Those two wins are a boost."

"I think that Albert Celades is an understanding, intelligent guy. He knows how to handle a dressing room and the codes that we have. We're fully behind him, he's a great coach and I think that he's going to show that here."

Watching games from the stands

"It's different when you're watching, and you suffer more because you can't do anything. You also see the replays straight away. You suffer, but we'll see if I don't have to watch any more games from the stands.

"We're coming up to an important stage of the season, with many games and a lot at stake, but we're going to take things game-by-game and shouldn't look beyond that."