Kye Rowles has hailed the Hearts medical team for getting him fit and firing to realise his World Cup dream with Australia.
Robbie Neilson's summer recruit has missed a big chunk of the first half of the season through injury including virtually all of the Jambos' Europa Conference League group stage campaign. But he returned just before the World Cup shutdown and made three appearances in a major boost to club and country. His return to fitness earned him a spot on the plane to Qatar as he gets ready to test himself against France, Denmark and Tunisia in the biggest tournament of them all.
Rowles can't wait to come up against the likes of Kylian Mbappe and Karim Benzema and he's sent a message to boss Graham Arnold by admitting he is 100 per cent ready to go if selected. Speaking about his recovery process in order to take up his squad place, he told the media at his Australia press conference: “It’s not been the most, I guess, perfect run in for myself but I know that once I put my head down and get out there the fitness levels…I’m not focused on that. I’m just focused on doing my job for the team.
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“I had to come back super fast and there’s always a risk of pushing the limit a bit too much. I didn’t really have time for even a tiny setback, like three or four days. Hats off to everyone involved for getting me back to a playing level.
“I’m feeling strong and very fit. The guys back at Hearts did a very good job of getting me back up to the level I need to be. I’m just excited to get out there and hopefully get out there and perform the best I can.
“Once you get into the game ,and you’ve got the likes of Benzema and Mbappe around you, you don’t have time to think about how you’re feeling. You’ve just got to do your job and makes sure that they’re nullified as best as possible.
“It’s gone from the back of mind. I’m 100% ready to go. If I’m chosen then I’ll be ready.”
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