Andy Otten admits he had a few nervous moments after injuring his knee against Greater Western Sydney earlier this month.
Otten, who missed the entire 2010 season with a ruptured anterior cruciate ligament (ACL), sent a scare through the Adelaide camp when he fell to the ground clutching his right knee after landing awkwardly during the second quarter of the Club’s trial match.
Otten was confident he’d sustained only a minor injury to his knee, but said he was still relieved when scans confirmed the diagnosis of strained ligaments.
“I knew I’d done something, but it didn’t feel like it did last time when I did my ACL. I was playing doctor in my head, trying to work out what had happened. It was like a pogo-stick landing, which you see in a lot of injuries that do happen with the ACL, so I was a bit nervous,” Otten said.
“I went down into the rooms and of course ‘Dougy’ (Richard Douglas) was being looked after by the doctor and Lynchy (Tom Lynch) too. I had to wait a little bit until those guys got sorted out – it was a bit of a casualty ward in there.
“I knew it wasn’t anything massive, but the scans still put my mind at ease a bit. It was like a hyperextension. It wasn’t anything major, but it was a few minor things that happened to cause a bit of stress.”
Otten avoided surgery, but will spend up to six weeks on the sidelines to give the injury time to heal.
“We’re impatient as footballers. We want everything to be fixed right away, but I’ve just got to let it settle and build on that after,” he said.
“It’s been feeling better every day. I’m walking normally now. I’m doing some rehab in the pool and on the bike. I’ll aim to run by the end of this week and then try to get some footy work in the week after next.
“Hopefully, I’ll be ready to play the week after that. It’s still probably 2-3 weeks in the best case.”
Otten will be an interested onlooker at the first game at the new Adelaide Oval on Saturday.
He said he was keen to see a strong performance from the team in Showdown XXXVI.
“Missing Round One was disappointing and missing the first game at Adelaide Oval will suck a bit too, but I’m looking forward to watching the boys run out,” Otten said.
“We’ve got a massive chance to get the first win there and against Port, the arch-rivals. We’re coming off a loss and they’re coming off a win.
“It’s going to be great for the city. It’s been built up massively and so it should. I’m really looking forward to the boys cracking in. I know it’s going to be a tough, tight game and there’ll be nothing left at the end.”
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