Ben Kantarovski feels he is starting to get back to his best form after struggling with a troublesome knee injury for the past two years.
Hunter Ports Newcastle Jets midfielder Ben Kantarovski feels he is starting to get back to his best form after struggling with a troublesome knee injury for the past two years.
After missing the opening two rounds, Kantarovski has been one of the Jets standout performers in a defensive midfield role in recent weeks.
The Jets have remained unbeaten since Kantarovski-s inclusion and have moved up to third on the A-League ladder after successive victories over Adelaide and Brisbane.
“Yeah it-s good to back playing again, even better to get the win against the Roar on Sunday,” he said.
“It was a good result, we worked hard especially to come back from that one goal, we dug deep and got a good win.”
Kantarovski believes the Jets are well placed this season and the depth of the squad ensures players are continually fighting for places.
“At training everything is pretty sharp and we try to keep it that way, it shows in our performances each week, we keep building and getting better,” he said.
“There-s probably two or three players vying for every position all over the park, so that makes every player not want to take a step back or someone will take another step forward in your spot.”
It has been a long road for Kantarovski after suffering a career threatening ruptured anterior cruciate ligament a few seasons ago and struggled with niggling injuries since.
But the youngster is confident he is nearing full fitness and is happy to be back playing football again after such a long layoff.
“I felt better from this last injury then when I had my ACL reconstruction, I feel a lot better now than coming back from that previous injury, which is the biggest thing,” he said.
“It was just a matter of getting full confidence in my knee, it was good to get a full pre-season in without any interruptions, which lead into the start of the season.
“I was out for quite a long time, I pretty much missed all of last season so it-s good to play a few solid games week in week out now.
“I think at the moment it-s pretty much at 100 per cent, it-s a lot of hard work to put in to get that right and I think it-s paying dividends at the moment.”
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