Prömel: "I live for football and do everything I can to be on the pitch"

"When it happened, I knew immediately that the ligament had gone. I felt it. And then there was just emptiness at first. Because really, it was a situation that happens to you a thousand times in training. I tripped, twisted my leg, and then it popped. In that moment I knew straight away that I wouldn't be able to play for a very long time," recalled the 30-year-old, who wasn't able to celebrate his 30th birthday in January in the way that he had hoped. 

The time out, the having to sit back and watch, and the challenging period spent in rehab have certainly left their marks. "I would describe myself as someone who is mentally strong, but of course an injury as serious as that does something to you, and it takes its toll. Especially during the period immediately after you get injured, you're bombarded with so many things. It's brutal at the beginning, especially building up to the operation, and then the time after the operation. Just because you're so dependent on other's people's help during that period of time," said Prömel, adding: "I live for football and do everything I can to be on the pitch at the weekend. And then when from one day to the next you literally can't do anything any more, when you can't even manage to get a plate from the kitchen and bring it into the living room yourself, you do start thinking to yourself: what's going on?"

Now he is in a much better place again. His progress in rehab and the prospect that he'll be able to start training with the team again soon have given him strength and positivity. However, he still doesn't want to put pressure on himself despite these good prospects - a full recovery is the absolute priority. "I'm making good progress, although I'll definitely need a bit more time. But I'm still very happy with how things have progressed so far." He continued: "We'll have to wait and see how the next few weeks go. I'm fairly confident that it can still happen this season if everything goes perfectly. But I don't want to take any risks, and neither does the club. If I really can help the team, though, it would at least round off the season a bit for me."

But his progress can't do anything to change one thing that Prömel is still struggling with: for him, having to sit back and watch while his teammates are fighting for vital points is "by far the hardest thing. Not being able to be on the pitch at the weekend, and only being able to watch the games from the stands. It's not easy, and I'm not an easy spectator either (he laughs). It's just not good for me, and I find it incredibly difficult to stay calm. Especially when it isn't going so well."

His trust in his teammates is strong, though, and a positive end to the season is very much planned: "We know that we still need points. That's why we all need to work together and make sure we're all on the same wavelength - then I'm confident that we'll be able to avoid relegation."

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