CHRISTIAN Dailly is ready to forget almost 12 months of torment and insists he has always been convinced he was right to join Blackburn Rovers.

When Roy Hodgson paid Derby a massive £5.35 million for the Scottish international this time last year, Dailly could scarcely have envisaged the troubled road which lay ahead.

He was shuttled around the team, unable to claim a regular spot, then, just when he seemed to have done that following Brian Kidd's arrival, suffered a ruptured thigh muscle to end his season prematurely in December.

But Dailly has weathered the storm, refused to let the problems get him down and kicks off a new campaign against Port Vale this afternoon with his enthusiasm rekindled.

He also revealed a well-kept secret - that, like Kevin Davies, he too was hit by a debilitating abscess on his tonsils last term. The defender had an operation, battled through it and stressed that, despite all that went wrong during Rovers' relegation season, he feels he made the right move.

"I have no regrets (about coming here) and I didn't have any last season either," he stressed. "I knew I just had to get on with it.

"When I first came it was strange. It was difficult for me and it's a bit unsettling. When you move you just want to play and get on with it.

"You are living in a hotel or renting a house which isn't yours and you just don't feel settled. Then Brian Kidd arrived and played me where I want to play and I was enjoying it a lot more.

"But then I got injured. It was thought to be just a strain when I did it earlier in the game against Leicester but it went again and turned out to be a complete rupture.

"Looking back on it now, I should probably have done absolutely nothing for four months. But I was obviously trying to get back as soon as possible."

"I kept training, then breaking down and, eventually, we said leave it and that respite over the summer has healed it.

"I feel I am just getting going now. The family are settled, I am back playing again and I just can't wait to get on with the new season."

In one of the international breaks last October, Dailly also had surgery.

"I had my tonsils out," he said. "I had a similar abscess to Kevin Davies. It was kept quiet and I didn't train for three weeks after that."

The operation, uncertainty over his role in the team and then the thigh injury made it a nightmare year for the 25-year-old Dailly.

He also revealed how much he needed a rest.

"Since I was 17, I have never had a break in summer. There's been things like the Toulon tournaments, European Championships, the World Cup.

"That's been every summer. This summer we've had a proper holiday, it's been great and, for the first time in years, I have been able to relax.

"Now I'm just happy to be back to normal, training and playing and able to run about and kick the ball and not feel it.

"Things have been brilliant in pre-season. It has been so hard and intense but my fitness has gone from what was really low for me to where it should be."

As well as a welcome change in his own fortunes, Dailly also senses a distinct change around the club.

"When I arrived I could sense that the place was a little bit down," he said.

"But the Norway trip and, right through the whole close season, the boys have been absolutely buzzing."

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