'Being out was a humbling experience'

After almost nine months out, Carl Jenkinson is now in the final stages of his recovery from a cruciate ligament injury.

Having sustained the blow while on loan at West Ham United, the Arsenal defender admits that his time on the sidelines has provided a valuable lesson.

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“The recovery is going well, it’s just lovely to be back out there playing and training,” Jenkinson told Arsenal Player. “It’s fantastic to be doing that again after so long out. You have good days and bad days because obviously you’re still adapting after such a long time.

“You’re adapting to training and the short, sharp stuff that you can only get from training with the lads that you’re not prepared for no matter how much pre-work you do before coming back.

“So there’s that little element and a little adjustment period which I’m in at the moment, but I’m enjoying it.”

Jenkinson is now targeting a return to action, having missed the matchday experience over the past few months.

“It is a humbling experience being injured for such a long period of time,” he said. "I guess sometimes in your career when you haven’t had injuries for a while, you start to take for granted just being able to go out and play football and enjoy doing that.

“Matchdays I miss a lot. I have missed them a lot because it’s a sort of buzz and excitement that you can’t replicate in anything else in life really.

"The build-up to a game, the pre-match and just the general vibe in the changing room as you’re building up to a game, that’s something that you can’t replicate in everyday life in anything else.”