 Craig Thomson has revealed he was "raging" when Hearts' head physiotherapist put the brakes on his comeback from knee surgery. But the young full-back now realises Rob Marshall was preventing him from putting his entire career at risk. Thomson was forced to go under the knife three months ago, shortly before Csaba Laszlo's sacking as manager. He was keen to show new manager Jim Jefferies what he could do, he was even ready to put his fragile body on the line ahead of schedule. Thomson said: "I tried to rush back, tried to do far too much for myself right away. The physio just stopped me and had a word with me. With a knee operation, it could end your career. He just wanted me to take things easy and do things right because if I'd rushed it back, it could've happened again - or even worse. I was raging. It was just like a kick in the face, really, because you felt fine yourself and you wanted to be back playing. Being told that you can't is just pretty hard to take." Thomson said his frustrating spell on the sidelines felt longer than it actually was and he is delighted to be back. He has come off the bench in the last three games as JJ eases him back into the squad. The teenager appeared to be establishing himself as the club's first-choice right-back under Laszlo but accepts he will have to bide his time while namesake Jason Thomson continues to impress in the role. He said: "I'm just trying to get fit and get a break, and hopefully get a chance in the team. I've got to try to get my head down and work hard, really, because Jason's obviously done really well since he got in. I'm not just going to walk back into the team after being injured for three months." Thomson has not been lonely on the sidelines at Tynecastle this season and Jefferies has vowed to get to the bottom of the club's persistent injury crisis. Thomson revealed how the medical staff initially struggled to cope with the walking wounded. He said: "A month after I went in, I think there were 14 or 15 first-team regulars in the treatment room, which is quite unbelievable. The physios didn't know what to do with us. We were all down at David Lloyd swimming and there were just too many, because there are only three physios at the club and one of them's under-19s. They did their best and I think they're doing pretty well." The one benefit of all the injuries is that the door has been opened for many of Thomson's fellow youngsters. He said: "All over the team, I think you can see young players coming through. We've not got much experience in the team, really. We've only got a few players like Mikey Stewart, Jose Goncalves. We've not got a player over 30 in the team, I think, which is quite unheard of." Thomson is hoping that he will get at least part of today's game against Kilmarnock to help secure the points to secure a top-six spot. The game is set to be watched by majority shareholder Vladimir Romanov, who made a surprise visit to the club's Riccarton training base yesterday morning. |