Ireland midfielder Alan Judge says he is mentally strong enough to come back from his latest injury set-back.
And he won’t shirk the challenge because he wants to set a good example for his football-playing son.
Judge is sidelined for the remainder of the season after he ruptured the anterior, posterior and medial ligaments during Colchester’s 1-0 defeat to Sutton on December 10.
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He is no stranger to long-term injury-related absences - the Dubliner spent almost two years recovering from a broken leg.
And he suffered a broken wrist in the dying moments of a 1-1 draw away to Denmark in June 2019.
Judge, capped nine times at senior international level and with one goal to his name, will use those experiences to get him through his current spell out of the game.
The 34-year-old added that the Christmas period would also help distract him from his woes.
“I've been busy with the kids and family with Christmas. That's been a good thing, it's taken my mind off it,” he said, in an interview with BBC Essex Sport.
“But I'm pretty sure that when Christmas is finished and the dust has settled, then I'll start to feel it a little bit more.”
Judge’s injury, which came towards the end of the first-half against Sutton, will require surgery. However, he has been there before.
“I do know I have the mental strength to come back, I had nearly two years out with a broken leg,” said the former Blackburn, Brentford and Ipswich man.
“The PCL and MCL are going to heal for the next three months and then my ACL will get operated on.”
Judge added that one of the driving forces behind his recovery would be his son.
“I will be concentrating really hard on my rehab and giving it a right go [to get fit],” he said.
“My son plays football and it wouldn't be good for him to see I'd given up on a challenge. That's not the way I am as a person.
“But I'll obviously be looking at other avenues, going to matches. Coaching does interest me so it [the lay-off] gives me a chance to look at those sort of things as well.”
Colchester are currently 23rd in League Two and are away to basement boys Gillingham on St Stephen’s Day.
In this crucial period, which includes fixtures against Wimbledon and Swindon, they could do with their experienced Irishman in midfield.
However, Judge is confident that they can move up the table over the coming weeks.
“I think we will finally get the rub of the green somewhere along the way,” he said.
“We've had that much bad luck, it has to turn eventually.
“Any little bit of help [In January] will be greatly appreciated and will mean more competition for places and the players will have to perform to stay in the team.”
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