Fit again after a pre-season knee injury, Courtney Pitt is back in his favoured role and terrorising full-backs up and down the land.

Unleashed by new boss Gary Brabin to play as a winger, rather than the wingback role he filled admirably for the last two seasons, it was all going so well in pre-season until the final warm-up game here against West Ham.

His knee "locked up" in what appeared to be an innocuous incident that eventually ruled him out until mid-November, when he began his comeback with a couple of appearances for youth side CRC in the Ridgeons League.

"We'd had some good results in pre-season and I thought I was playing well," says Courtney. "I was getting fit, because I'd started pre-season later than the other lads, but in that game against West Ham I just turned and felt my knee lock up and I had to come off.

"We didn't know what was wrong for a little while because all the scans were coming up clear. I tried to carry on as normal but it wasn't getting any better so we went to the surgeon and he knew straightaway what was the problem."

A 'keyhole' operation to repair the torn cartilage took place in the middle of August, leading to a frustrating period as his knee was braced and protected before gradually being restored to full mobility.

"It took a long time because we had to make sure it was properly healed before I could get the brace off and get into the rehab department," he explains. "If it had got damaged again they would have had to remove the whole cartilage and that would shorten my career, so we had to make sure to let it heal properly."

Part of the return to fitness involved a week at the National Rehabilitation Centre at Lilleshall, which Courtney feels is of great benefit to any injured player: "I've been a few times and there's not much to do in the evenings, but you get to work one-on-one with top-class physios who have been doing their job for 20-odd years.

"They've seen every injury going and they have all the machinery and technology for testing everything, and I would recommend it to anyone who's injured. It's very concentrated and intensive every day so you really get the most out of it and you feel better by the time you go back to your club."

Another benefit is a change of scenery for the injured player to give them a mental lift as well as the physical treatment, as Courtney notes: "It breaks up the time that you're injured, so you're not doing the same things and seeing the same people every day.

"It can get a bit depressing when you see the other boys going out training and preparing for games and that's what you want to be doing, so to go away and come back brightens you up and freshens you up again, and you know you're a week further on in your schedule as well."

Looking further back to the end of last season, when Courtney was a key figure in the end of season promotion chase and play-off campaign, he admits the experience leaves him with "bittersweet" memories.

"Obviously we got to the final and got to play at Wembley, which was a great occasion for the players and the fans, but we were all disappointed that we didn't take it the step further that we wanted. The club wants to be in the Football League and that's what the players want too."

Having started out at Chelsea and also playing for Portsmouth as they won promotion from the Championship to the Premier League, United's number 11 has played in some big grounds but he admits that Wembley tops them all.

"It's possibly the biggest and best in the world and every boy wants to play there so I'm glad I've been able to do that, but it would have been far better if we'd won," he says.

"Every player wants to play at the highest level and win every game that they're in. I'm a determined person and I hate losing; I want to win every game and hopefully this season we'll take that step further.

"Burton are clear at the moment but there's still a long way to go and we feel we have the players and the ability to catch them."

But if not for a change of manager in the summer, Courtney would not have been a U's player this season. With his contract running out, he was not included on the retained list by Jimmy Quinn at the end of last season and looked set to sign for another club.

"He basically said that he couldn't afford to keep me due to the financial side of the club, but it was all amicable," he recalls.

But when Gary Brabin took over from Quinn in late June, one of his first acts was to tell the board he wanted the 27-year-old back in his squad.

"I'd had offers from a few other clubs and I was on the point of signing for one, but I was just glad to get the call to say that I was wanted again," says Courtney.

"I obviously knew 'Cards' from last season but I didn't know Gary Brabin, but we had a chat about how he wanted the club to go forward and what my role would be in that, and he convinced me to come back. He said we'd be playing more attacking football and I would be playing as a winger, which is my natural position rather than a wingback, and I was delighted about that and it helped my decision to come back."

Being released after three seasons at the club, Courtney had the opportunity to make a completely fresh start elsewhere but he says the change of manager makes it feel like that at United.

"Sometimes you might need a fresh start somewhere else and it was tempting, but with the old manager going and Gary Brabin coming in it was more like a fresh start for me. The way he wants to play is how I feel I can get the best out of me, so that convinced me to come back."

Admitting that he hated having to sit on the sidelines and watch the first third of the season while he recovered from his injury, Courtney feels he is back to full match fitness and sharpness and hopes to contribute to a rise further up the table in the second half of the season.

"I was desperate to play," he admits. "We made such a good start and I wanted to be involved, but the boys have all been playing well and I've had to wait and now hopefully I can lend my experience and help us get further up in the league."

Before his first team return, the cheerful Londoner made two appearances alongside the scholars playing as CRC in the Ridgeons League, and he feels that helped him hit the ground running when he made his comeback in the Blue Square Premier.

"I'm really grateful to Jez (George) and everyone at CRC for helping me get my fitness back - although I think in the first game I played for them I was the worst player on the pitch! I had to get my touch back and get a feel for the ball again, and I thank Jez for that because I think it was a benefit for me to get those games.

"There are some very good young players coming through and they work very hard," he adds. "They all want to succeed and they all want to play in the first team, and I think many of them have got a chance to do that. We see them and speak to them around the club and they train with us sometimes, and they're all good lads."

Having got 90 minutes under his belt in his second appearances for CRC, Courtney made his first team return in the win against Ebbsfleet at the end of November and he has played in every game since, opening his goal tally in the 4-0 win against Salisbury last month.

"I was still getting my fitness back for the first three or four games but now I feel match fit and hopefully I can show what everyone is expecting from me. I want to kick on now and the games are coming thick and fast because of the postponements, so we need our full squad and we need to pick up results because we want to be in those play-offs at least."

Having scored his first goal of the season in the Salisbury match, he reveals he will be looking for more: "The gaffer wants me to get in the box more and score goals. He says he knows I want to create goals but he wants me in the box playing virtually as a forward when we're attacking.

"Scoring goals is one of the areas I know I need to improve on and that's what he wants from me," he adds, "so you'll see me popping up in the box more often."

Asked about the celebrations that followed the goal against Salisbury, when he dropped his shorts to reveal 'Superman' underpants, he roars with laughter and explains: "I actually wore them for the game before and the boys said if I scored I would have to show my pants, so when I scored in the next game I did it and we all had a chuckle about it afterwards."

So can we expect a repeat performance? "You never know… I might wear them again today!"

As regular readers know, some of the players from outside the area share a house nearby, and Courtney has become a regular visitor at the house shared by Mark Beesley, Phil Bolland, Anthony Tonkin and Mark Convery.

It's not hard to understand why when he says, "'Bees' thinks he's a bit of a Gordon Ramsay in the kitchen so he does the food and 'Bolly' does the dishes, and I can sit there and get waited on hand and foot, which is nice!"

At 27, Courtney is now our longest-serving player, having joined in September 2006 when Rob Newman was manager of the hastily-assembled side struggling to adapt to life in the Conference following relegation and a spell in administration. He has played under three managers and seen a lot of players come and go in that time, and he feels the club is making good progress.

"I'm surprised that I've seen so much happen and I've not even been here that long," he smiles. "It's my fourth season and I think the structure of the club and the quality of the players has changed a lot in that time.

"When I first came here the club had just been relegated from the League and had to get rid of most of the players, and we had young boys and players on non-contract and free transfers, so you really can't get much quality in. Now there's more structure and more focus and more ambition in the club, and you can see that on the pitch where the quality is much better than before.

"The manager has been good too - training is always bright and he always wants us playing in the right way and playing attacking football, which is obviously my best attribute."

Midfielder Daryl McMahon could make his debut today after joining the club a few days ago, and Courtney speaks highly of the new man: "I played with Daryl a long time ago when we were both training with Luton and he's a very good player. He likes to get the ball down and he's left-footed too, which is good for me because he will open play out to the left and see me more often."

Closing with his thoughts on the rest of the season, Courtney's hopes and aims are summed up in one word: "Promotion."

Expanding on that theme, he says, "We all want that. We think we're good enough and we have enough quality to be there, we just need to turn a few draws into wins and close out the sort of games where we've dropped points this season.

"We need to score more goals too and everybody needs to pitch in - we can't just rely on one person. I need to score goals, everyone knows we need more goals throughout the team and collectively that's what we have to do.

"As long as we do those things we'll definitely be there or thereabouts."

Andrea Thrussell
web@cambridge-united.co.uk

*An edited version of this interview was published in the programme for the match against Woking on Saturday 17th January 2009.

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