Source: FOOTYMAD
Bell puts injuries behind him.
Winger eager to prove his worth Coventry City's injury hit winger David Bell hopes his 18 months of injury plagued time is finally over and he can now start to show what he is capable of.Bell joined Coventry City in January 2009 from Norwich City, carrying an injury to his knee which required several operations to correct, but has only managed to make 29 starts and nine substitute appearances.So far Bell is the only player to have started both games City have played this season and with Richard Keogh at right back with Bell further forward on the right wing, the Sky Blues have looked threatening on this side of the field and could pose the opposition serious threats.Bell was selected to play in the first game of the season at home to Portsmouth and he was heavily involved in the build up to both of City's goals.Bell reflected to the CT: "The gaffer thought that I would benefit from another 70 to 75 minutes on Tuesday and I was delighted to get the chance.""It's been a bit stop-start since I got here; I signed when I was injured and I've had three operations in the past 18 months which is a bit of a nightmare, but all of that is behind me now. I'm fit and raring to go, I want to play every minute of every game, and I'm sure that if I can play week in week out you'll see the best of me. ""The gaffer wanted me to go out and express myself, be positive every time I got the ball, so that's what I did. I wasn't really surprised to be called up against Portsmouth because I believe in myself and I think that when I'm fit I've got something to offer the team.""I didn't think I would be fit enough to sustain 90 minutes but the gaffer said 'just give me an hour' and I managed 75 minutes so that felt great."So far in the very early stages of the new season Bell has been impressive, but his pre season preparation was less than might have been desired.Bell explained, I had the cartilage on my left knee tidied up in the summer. I trained the first week in Austria and played 45 minutes of the game out there but then I had a bit of a reaction.""I saw the specialist who gave me a steroid injection and it took a week or 10 days for that to settle down. I played the second half against West Brom but it meant that in the pre season programme I only had two 45 minute spells, one at the start and one at the end.""There was a big gap in between which meant I missed a lot of training as well as five matches so I'm playing catch-up a little bit, but I'm really delighted with the way it's gone so far."The 26 year old, Kettering born winger now knows what his manager, Aidy Boothroyd, demands in the way of fitness and commitment and s undaunted by it.He said, "When a new manager comes in every player starts with a clean slate and you've all got to prove to him that you're worth your place.""The minimum requirement from the gaffer is 110 per cent and I think everybody's taken that on board. We're all working as hard as we can to try to get into the team and then stay there."The hard work of Boothroyd in stimulating desire, boosting player confidence and raising fitness levels is beginning to show on the players and played an almost instant dividend against Portsmouth when Bell made an incisive break down the right wing which led to the corner from which Eastwood scored the opening goal of the new season.In the second half it was Bell's inch perfect pass to Eastwood fro him to head in the second of his goals.Bell explained: "With the first goal I broke down the right and thought about crossing but I thought 'no, I'm inside the box so I'll have a crack at the bottom corner.'" "The shot was blocked but luckily we made the corner count. The second goal was something we had been working on in training. The gaffer told Kieren Westwood to work on the left back because he's small, get Lukas Jutkiewicz flicking it on and me gambling behind and that's exactly what happened. Westie hit Lukas with a great ball, he flicked it perfectly and I ran on and stood it up for Freddy in an area where he could score."Bell has scored some class goals in the previous two seasons for Coventry and might have added to his tally against Portsmouth, "I dragged it wide, but hopefully I can weigh in with more than I did last year," said a rueful BellBell's failure to score was more than made up for with Eastwood's two goals, he said, "We're all delighted for Freddy because it's been a bit stop-start for him too. He's been playing a few games then missing a few, but everybody here has got total confidence in his ability. We're all sure that if he's playing regularly he'll score goals, and I think he'll get plenty this year."
