Burnley striker Sam Vokes can look to future one year on from horror knee injury

The striker had endured nine months of painstaking rehabilitation to recover from the ruptured cruciate ligament that had cruelly cut short such a memorable campaign for Burnley’s second top scorer.

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Maddy had been through the mill with him, easing him through the more difficult days after scans revealed the worst case scenario from an innocuous incident against Leicester City at Turf Moor in March last year; waiting on him at home while he was sofa-bound; coming to the rescue with a Mars bar sugar-hit on the day promotion was confirmed with an Easter Monday home win over Wigan, when dancing on crutches all got a bit too much for her beloved.

“It was a big turning point. My knee had fully recovered by then so I could get down on it to propose,” said Vokes.

“It was a nice moment. I did it back home, on the beach.

“She wasn’t quite expecting it. But we’ve been together for nearly eight years now.

“It was a good time because it coincided with coming back and getting fit and getting back out on the pitch.”

With a ‘Yes’ from Maddy, suddenly Vokes’ lengthy lay-off seemed a long time ago and he was able to look forward - on and off the pitch.

Engagement has not been the only cause for celebration since Christmas. There was a Boxing Day return to first team action against Liverpool and more recently a recall to the Wales squad, followed two days later by Vokes’ full Premier League debut and first start for Burnley since that fateful day against the Foxes exactly a year ago on Sunday.

“It was special,” said the centre forward, of not only starting against Manchester City but helping the Clarets to a 1-0 win.

“It was great to get the start for myself and to get nearly a full 90 minutes under my belt in the Premier League. And the win was massive!”

His recall to Chris Coleman’s Euro 2016 challenge came 378 days after his last international game - and goal - in a 3-1 win over Iceland.

Vokes has come full circle.

“It’s gone quickly, but at the time when you’re working in the gym it doesn’t go so quickly. It’s a weird one,” he said.

“Coming up to 12 months, looking back I’ve taken a lot of valued experience from it.

“You go through some hard times through the injury and I think you learn a lot about yourself.”

He acts as both mentor and beacon to team-mates Dean Marney and Kevin Long now, with both suffering cruciate knee ligament injuries within weeks of each other - Long’s just minutes after making his Premier League debut, at Newcastle United, on New Year’s Day.

“I’ll be there for those boys obviously,” Vokes said. “They’re good lads and good mates and we’ve been in touch quite a bit, even in the early stages. Getting through the first couple of months is the hardest bit.

“It is tough in that early stage when you can’t really do an awful lot really. You’re just going in the gym and doing small exercises.

“When you get outside (to train) you can see the light at the end of the tunnel.

“You’ve just got to think every day is a progression towards full fitness.”

He added: “I think you grow up a lot and see the other side of the game. I’d never had that kind of injury when you’re out for that long so you look at things from a different perspective.

“Just to get out there and train every day, you take that for granted but when you’re going through something like that it’s something to learn from.

“It all counts towards getting back out on the pitch.”

Returning to the Wales fold this week, in preparation for tomorrow’s European Championship qualifier away to Israel, is another landmark moment for Vokes.

Wales are second in Group B, trailing Israel by one point, although the leaders have a game in hand.

They are unbeaten, celebrating wins over Andorra and Cyprus, while there have been goalless draws with Bosnia-Herzegovina and Belgium.

“The lads have made a great start to the campaign so I’m looking forward to meeting up with them again and trying to push for that qualification,” he said.

“That was another thing I missed during the injury, getting involved with them and seeing them pick up results.

“It was a tough one to take because it’s a good group of lads there at the moment.

“But through my rehab I spent a week with the team in November, and it was great to be around the lads.

“I kept in touch with the gaffer at Wales while I was injured. He’s been great. He’s been in touch throughout my rehab to see how I’m progressing.

“I wasn’t so much expecting it (the call-up) but it’s great to get it.

“It’s brilliant. I’ve just been building up every stepping stone in the fitness and the call-up has topped it off.”

Sunday will mark a year to the date since Vokes hobbled off in the top of the table clash with Leicester and played no further part in a season he had already contributed so much to, not least 22 of the 46-goal partnership with Danny Ings.

He longed to help get them over the line, but Ashley Barnes picked up where the targetman had left off to finish the job.

Now Clarets manager Sean Dyche has found a way for all three to be involved in the starting line-up after a fit-again Vokes, who scored in his second game to set up an FA Cup third round replay with Spurs in January, was made to bide his time for a first team return.

A first Premier League goal is another item on his ‘to-do’ list.

But after playing a significant part in Burnley’s promotion, the ultimate aim is to now preserve top flight football, by whatever means possible.

“I got the goal against Tottenham but that was in the cup so the next one’s in the league,” said Vokes. “Hopefully it will come sooner rather than later.

“But there’s no pressure on myself. It’s a team performance first, but if I can get the goal that matters that would be great.”

He added: “There’s a lot going on down at the bottom, a few teams have changed managers and you never know how they’ll react to that.

“We’ve kept steady throughout. We know what we’re all about and what we believe in so we need to take that into the next nine games and show that we can stay in this league.

“Promotion was a big part of all of our careers and a big highlight, but it would trump that to stay up this year. It’s a big objective of ours obviously, and it would be massive for everyone.”

With so much at stake for club and country no wedding date is yet set for Vokes and his bride-to-be.

Having had the last 12 months dictated to him by the necessary timetables and routines that physio and sports science experts set to get injured players back out onto the field, he is happy to go with the flow - enjoying life, and his football.