Doncaster Rovers ace says the best is yet to come since his return from injury

Close made his long-awaited comeback in the Papa Johns Trophy last month having spent ten months sidelined due to an IT band injury which required surgery.

The 26-year-old has since made four appearances in League Two for Rovers but admits himself those displays have been inconsistent.

Close labelled his performances as a ‘mixed bag’ and added: “There’s been some good bits and some not so good bits. Some rusty bits of play.

"Physically, I am still getting to a point where I want to be.

"But it’s been a great feeling training every day and playing those games.

"I’d like to think my performances will improve as the weeks go on.”

Close was unable to put a timescale on when he might feel fully fit, but there have been encouraging signs.

He said: “In terms of recovery, after the first couple of games it was taking me quite a while to recover but I feel like that’s speeding up now.

"It allows me to train every day.”

Doncaster boss Gary McSheffrey feels Close is still mentally recovering from the longest lay-off of his career.

He said: “He’s getting over some of the scars he had mentally.

"He’s getting through training sessions now, he’s available for games, hopefully that continues.”

McSheffrey, whose own playing career was brought to an end through injury, added: “Sometimes you just have to grind through it and trust your body is going to come through things.

"When you have been out for so long you are trying to find your injuries.”