There was a time when Isaac Whitehall wondered if he would ever step foot on the pitch and wear the Rovers shirt again.

The youngster was out of action for nearly 1,000 days due to a president foot problem, which required four separate surgeries.

It was a long road for Whitehall but it all paid off when he came off the bench against Newcastle in Premier League 2 earlier this year.

“It has meant everything really. Obviously, the last two and a half years have been really challenging and difficult. To be back on the pitch is so good,” he told RoversTV.

“It was so challenging and mentally draining at times. You are away from the team and not doing what you enjoy.

“You are in the gym on your own for a lot of the time, and every footballer wants to be on the pitch playing. To be out for that long, it was terrible.”

When asked what helped him get through the dark times, Whitehall replied: “Being able to look ahead to the future and visualising being back, and of course family, friends, team-mates and coaches.

“That is massive, you need to have that family pushing you on and keeping you focused when you are having bad days."

The initial injury came just before the start of the 2021/22 campaign and there were plenty of setbacks along the way.

“It was very frustrating because at the time, I felt like I was doing well. It was a few days before the start of the season so it was probably a bad time to do it,” the midfielder explained.

“I went through the whole rehab and it was probably four or five months before I was on the grass. A week before I was back in training, I re-fractured it and had to get another surgery.

“Each time, it was three months in a boot and then I got back on the grass. I had trained three times, just no-contact, and it re-fractured again so I was back to square one.

“If I can take one positive from all this, it is how mentally strong I am now. There are not many players who have gone through a period of time like this, being out and not even training.

“I know that I am so much stronger, physically and mentally, now and can deal with setbacks and challenges.”

After such a difficult journey, Whitehall is now determined to make the most of every day on the training pitch and in matches.

“After my second surgery, I was told that there wasn’t much they could do if it re-fractured,” he recalled.

“When I found out that I had done it again, it was on my mind a lot but luckily they were able to do something about it.

“There have been other times where I have thought, ‘Is this going to work the way I want it to?’ but thankfully it has.

“It is amazing (being back in training). Everyone who plays football wants to do that and sometimes you can take it for granted.

“I have learnt to never take it for granted and treat every game like my last because it could all end tomorrow.”