George Harmon credits Ross County physios with getting him fit to return to action ahead of schedule after wing back makes comeback in win over Motherwell
Ross County wing back George Harmon has credited the club’s treatment room for getting him back into action quicker than anticipated.
The 23-year-old went off early on in the 2-0 win over Dundee on September 14, and the club would release an update at the start of October confirming he was expected to miss 10-12 weeks.
However, Harmon returned to full training ahead of this month’s international break, and would be back in Don Cowie’s starting line-up for their 2-1 win over Motherwell last weekend.
Naturally delighted to be back in action, Harmon says he has to thank physiotherapists Beth MacIver and Fiona Hogg for speeding up his recovery time, and he now intends on nailing down his spot on the left side of defence.
“I have to give massive credit to the physios for getting me back so quickly,” he said after the final whistle.
“It was probably quicker than we all hoped, which is good, and it shows massive confidence that the gaffer can chuck me straight back in.
“That gave me belief, so from there I knew I owed it to the manager to pay him back.
“My ankle is a bit sore now, but it’s not too bad. I’m feeling good, and I felt quite sharp out there, so hopefully I can get a run of games now and get back to where I was before my injury.
“To be fair, I think I went two years without missing a training session or a game, so I was probably due an injury.
“Injuries are part and parcel of football. We had a few lads injured at the same time, so Max Sheaf was in the gym at the same time for those long days. It paid off for me, and I’m sure it will for him as well.
“My game is to be running up and down the pitch, so hopefully I can get the match fitness back in my legs and get the performances that come with it as well.”
It was a victorious return to action for Harmon as goals from Ronan Hale and Josh Nisbet sealed victory against former manager Stuart Kettlewell’s current charges.
Arguably most pleasing from the performance was just the fact that County hit the back of the net multiple times after drawing a blank in their previous three fixtures, and Harmon feels it was important to return to form in front of goal to give them belief going into the challenges of Celtic and Rangers in their next two matches.
“It was a great finish from Josh, and Ronan’s was just an instinctive finish,” Harmon explained.
“We know that he sniffs out goals, and it would have been nice to get the clean sheet too but after we conceded I thought we hung on really well to get the win.
“Obviously we haven’t scored as many goals as we would have liked, so to score two was really good.
“We need to build on that now. It’s alright doing it for one game, but we want to go on a run of goals and get the striker scoring – and hopefully I can chip in with a few assists as well.
“We know we’ve got the two Old Firm teams next, but we just need to focus on ourselves.
“We’ve shown last season that we can pick up points against those teams and put in performances. Even going to Celtic Park last season, they only scored one goal in one of the games, and then we scored two in the other.
“We know we can compete against them. It’s going to be a difficult game, we’re under no illusions about that, but we know what we’ve got in that dressing room and we can beat anyone in this league.”
That belief in their own ability comes from a strong team spirit in Dingwall, with Harmon saying the current crop of County players are as close as any in his time in the Highlands.
“That group that we’ve got in the dressing room is such a tight-knit group – I’ve said that every year, and this season is no different,” he added.
“We’re with each other on days off, because lads have come from England or other parts of Scotland up to the Highlands.
“I think it’s just as good as previous years, if not the best dressing room I’ve been in.
“We see each other more than our families. Sometimes we’re seeing each other seven times-a-week, so it is a good group of lads.
“Everyone is pushing in the same direction, and that probably gives you that extra one per cent on the pitch to help the team out.”
