Leam Richardson, the manager of ROTHERHAM UNITED, expressed his happiness to see Shane Ferguson overcome his terrible 2023–24 campaign to return to the first team on Saturday, but he also cautioned against getting too carried away.
The 32-year-old Northern Ireland international, who had missed the entire season due to three surgeries intended to address a series of hernia problems, replaced Peter Kioso in the 79th minute during Saturday’s 1-0 Championship home loss to Watford.
For the Millers, who suffered their fourth straight defeat and had their winless streak stretch to nine games in all competitions, it was a small comfort.
Ferguson’s only other first-team appearance occurred on May 1 of the season in the AESSEAL New York Stadium, during the safety-clinching 1-0 victory over Middlesbrough.
The former Millwall player received permission last month to intensify his comeback preparations when he was permitted to engage in some outdoor physical training at the Club’s Roundwood training camp before to reentering the first team picture.
Shane has been out for nine months, according to Richardson, whose bottom-placed team will go to high-flying Ipswich Town on Tuesday night in a lengthy and difficult match. He has put in a ton of work.
He’s clearly been annoyed, just like any player. They believe they may immediately return to the field after receiving their return from the physiotherapists.
However, we must keep in mind that he has been absent for nine months. With so many games remaining, we don’t want to lose him to something trivial once more.
“He is a wonderful person and has been amazing. It was wonderful to see him back on the field because he works really hard to get back up and running.
