Bournemouth striker Callum Wilson speaks to Sky Sports about overcoming two serious knee injuries in the space of 16 months, why he’s now physically and mentally stronger than ever, and how he hopes to impress England boss Gareth Southgate.
Wilson has been through a lot in the last three seasons. The striker had started Bournemouth’s first campaign in the Premier League with five goals in seven games when he ruptured the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee in September 2015, and it was only 16 months later that he suffered the same injury in his left.
There were testing moments on the long road to recovery, but Wilson is in a good place now. The 26-year-old has been injury-free since October, when he marked his return to fitness with a goal in an EFL Cup win over Middlesbrough. Since then, he has only missed two Bournemouth games out of 30. The clouds have cleared and the future looks bright again.
“When you get big injuries it can make you go two ways,” he tells Sky Sports. “You can build from it, learn from it and make yourself a better player, or you can let it defeat you. I think, having done it the first time, I’d learnt how to be a bit more resilient than I was before I got the injury in the first place. I’d already been through the rehab. I knew what it took to get back.”
Wilson is speaking in the green room before an appearance on Goals on Sunday, where he is joined by his wife and two young children. “They were a big help,” he says. “When you’re working hard at rehab and training, you can go home and switch off from your setback. The little man wants to play football. The baby needs attending to. They keep you upbeat.”
Wilson is settled off the pitch and there have been memorable highlights on it since his return to action this season. There was a hat-trick against Huddersfield in November – his first since a 4-3 win over West Ham a few weeks before his injury in 2015 – and there have also been vital goals against West Ham, Brighton, Arsenal and Chelsea.
As is always the case for Wilson, who spent time in non-league as a teenager before working his way up the divisions with Coventry and Bournemouth, there have been challenges, too. He was on eight goals in 18 appearances for the season at the end of January, but there have been none in 10 since. It’s his longest scoreless run since he was on loan at Kettering in 2011.
“Missing pre-season is always hard, you’re always playing catch-up, so I always knew this wasn’t going to be a plain-sailing season,” he says. “You’re going to have dips in form when you’re coming back, it’s the same for any footballer. Going on a run without scoring has been a bit disappointing but it’s part and parcel of it. I’ve got to look at the season positively overall.”
Wilson has been unfortunate on a number of occasions, not least in Bournemouth’s 2-0 defeat to Manchester United last weekend, when referee Graham Scott ignored his penalty appeals despite replays showing he was pulled back by Luke Shaw just as he was about to turn Josh King’s cross into the net from close range.
“I had a disallowed goal against Tottenham and I’ve had penalty shouts which have not been given,” he says. “On another day those decisions go for you and all of a sudden you’re on a lot more goals, but I don’t make excuses. I’ve been happy with my performances. When you’re no scoring you have to bring other things to the team to keep your shirt. I think I’ve done that.”
With Bournemouth 11th in the table and fighting for a second consecutive top-10 finish, however, Wilson knows goals are the priority. “You’ve always got to be mentally stronger than the situation,” he says. “For me, goals always come. I always believe in my ability to score goals… They just need to come soon because we’ve only got three games left.”
Wilson delivers the last line with a chuckle but there is a steeliness about him, a determination built up during his rise up the football pyramid and the time he has spent on the treatment table. “As a professional you have to overcome adversity and that’s what I’ve done,” he says. “I don’t really look back anymore, I only look forward.”
Wilson has been linked with a number of bigger Premier League clubs over the last three years, but he describes Eddie Howe as a “massive” influence and insists his priority is Bournemouth. “We just need to make sure we keep improving every year,” he says. “You don’t want to be fighting relegation every season, you want to be aiming for top-10 finish consistently.”
Wilson’s other target, of course, is to force his way into the England frame. His recent goal drought has come at an unfortunate time, but he has not given up hope of making Gareth Southgate’s World Cup squad and whether it’s this summer or later, he is desperate to make the step up to the senior side having featured for the U21s back in 2014.
“First and foremost it’s about focusing on Bournemouth,” he says, “It’s what I do at my club that is ultimately going to get me there, I can only look at what I can affect, but if that impresses Southgate then great. I think any English player would want to represent their country. That’s something I do want to do in the near future.
“It will be nice next season to get a full season under my belt and test myself in the Premier League with 38 games, rather than it be bitty, with an injury here or another thing there. I want to finish this season strongly and start off next year all guns blazing. Then we’ll see where we are.”
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Sourse: skysports.com
