Sunderland defender Dan Ballard says working alongside Jordan Willis was an inspiration as the pair carried out their rehab work together following serious injuries. Ballard broke a bone in his foot in mid-August leading to a four-month absence before he made his comeback in the Black Cats' weekend draw at Hull City, pressed back into action inside the opening 15 minutes as a substitute following an injury to Danny Batth.
Fellow centre-back Willis has been out of action for far longer having ruptured his patella tendon almost two years ago in February 2021, and when he underwent an operation it only resulted in a recurrence of the injury. Willis, whose contract expired over the summer, has been continuing his fitness work at the Academy of Light and that meant Ballard found himself in the treatment room alongside the 28-year-old.
Both players experienced setbacks in their recoveries - Willis' significantly more serious than Ballard's - but that gave them a shared bond. "Jordan is in everyday and he's gone through probably the worst kind of injury there was and had so many setbacks," said Ballard.
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"To see him still working hard everyday, I think he's out of contract and he's coming in and giving it his all every single day. It's quite inspiring. Having people like that around the club he gives everyone a boost."
Of his own recovery, Ballard added: "There are a lot longer days and a lot of hard work with often quite little reward. "With this injury there was a lot of setbacks so I've been out for longer than I expected to be.
"It just makes it all the more pleasing when I'm back now because there were times even three or four weeks ago where we might have had to consider other options. It's really good to be back."
Summer signing from Arsenal Ballard had begun the season in then-boss Alex Neil's starting XI but picked up the injury in only his third outing, the 2-2 draw against QPR at the Stadium of Light. It was not the first major injury of his career, however, with the Northern Ireland international having already experienced a five-month lay-off with a knee problem when he was playing at Swindon Town on loan from the Gunners in 2019.
But even though this latest injury kept him out for slightly less time, the 23-year-old describes his knee problem as more 'challenging'. "I've had a long knee injury before but this one was a lot more challenging just because of where it was on the body," he said.
"I wasn't hitting the targets that I needed to and there was still a lot of pain. It was just a really awkward injury in the foot and hasn't been the easiest.
"There have been a lot of sessions I haven't been able to get through and have been going through a lot of pain trying to get it to where it needs to be. I feel like it's in a good spot finally and good enough to play."
Soon after Ballard suffered the injury, Sunderland went through a change of head coach as Neil departed to take over at Stoke City and Tony Mowbray was installed as his replacement. With no opportunity to make an immediate impression on the new boss, it was the worst possible time for a change from Ballard's point of view.
But Mowbray reassured him, recalling how his then-side Blackburn Rovers had come up against Ballard last season when the centre-back was on loan at Blackpool. Ballard said: "The day he came in we had a chat and he said he played against me the year before.
"He was excited for me to get back. It’s been nearly three months probably now since he's come in and I just want to show him in training now what I can do now I'm back playing and hopefully build a good relationship with him."
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