With tomorrow marking the first anniversary of the horrific injury which has threatened his career, Gordon Watson is remarkably philosophical about his predicament.

No-one who was in Valley Parade on February 1 last year to watch the local derby with Huddersfield Town will ever forget the tackle which left the then club record signing writhing in pain on the floor.

Kevin Gray's challenge saw Watson carried off and facing months of depression as he began the long road to recovery from his badly fractured right leg.

In the ensuing weeks the 26-year-old was forced to undergo several operations, including metal plates being inserted in his injured leg.

Even now, while still restricted to swimming and rowing, he has only set himself the target of "just playing again".

He insists: "It will be just another day. People have said 'You will be glad to get the first anniversary out of the way' but I don't think that is necessarily the case.

"The fact is there is nothing I can do about it so one day is pretty much the same as another. I know the situation. All I can do is continue my training and hope that I can get back."

Watson and City are still hoping that the civil proceedings against Town and Gray over the challenge will be settled early this year, but the striker is careful to stress he is still a long way off returning to full training.

"I am not training with the lads, I am months and months off that unfortunately. All I am doing at the moment is swimming, using the bike and rowing - the same as normal really. I have been running at the training ground quite a bit in recent weeks, which has been good as it keeps me involved with the lads."

His enjoyment in being back in daily contact with his team-mates was evident during the interview as he seemed much brighter than he was in the dark days which followed the injury.

The former Sheffield Wednesday and Southampton striker swapped banter with his team-mates throughout and seemed much more comfortable due to the day to day involvement he has been enjoying with the team.

Although his progress has been slow and he only kicked a ball for the first time in November, Watson has been heartened by the continuing interest from City fans as to his progress.

However, despite this apparent improvement in his mood, the striker has suffered a slight setback in his progress this week, suffering a bad knee.

"That means I will have to stop for a while, which is disappointing. My action was all wrong and I was over-compensating for the original injury.

"Every time I put my foot down, even when walking, I had an arch. So when I walk it meant my right foot was going inwards, which led to me twisting my knee. I am completely in the hands of Steve Redmond (City physio) at the moment.

"All the pressure was building because of that. I had been running for the last few weeks so it is a case of building it up again.

"Unfortunately I now can't do anything for at least two weeks."

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.