Ricky Henderson has returned to the Club for the first time since seriously injuring his leg.

Henderson, 25, suffered a fractured tibia (near the ankle) and ligament damage when he was tackled during a training session in February. The athletic utility underwent surgery to repair the damage.

“During training I got tackled from behind. I went down in an awkward way and went over on my ankle,” Henderson told Channel Crow.

“I broke my tibia and dislocated the ankle, so I’ve done a few ligaments on the inside of my ankle. The surgeon put a plate and a few screws into the tibia and then reattached all the ligaments to where they should be.”

Henderson spent two weeks recuperating at home and returned to West Lakes on Monday with the aid of crutches and a moon boot. He’s likely to remain in the moon boot for at least a month, but was able to start his rehabilitation program – boxing with injured captain Nathan van Berlo.

The versatile Crow, who is in good spirits, said he was happy to be back amongst his teammates.

“I’m feeling okay. The ankle is starting to come along pretty well. Obviously, I’m disappointed it (the injury) happened in the first place, but these things happen. It’s football,” he said.

“It’s just good to be back in and around the place and getting around the boys.”

Medical experts haven’t ruled out Henderson returning to the field late this season, but the rebounding defender said it was too early to put a time frame on his return.

“I’m taking it really slowly. I’m not doing a whole heap at the minute, but doing anything is good just to keep my sanity,” he said with a laugh.

“I want to make sure the ankle is right before I start to do anything serious. That’s the most important thing; that I get it back to 100 per cent and don’t have to worry about it in the future.”

Recruited as a rookie, Henderson has played 56 games for Adelaide.

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