Ex-Liverpool and Preston man's Portsmouth regret after the shooting practice mistake which delivered huge Blues blow

The 29-year-old has been a revelation since returning from a five-month injury lay-off in February following two operations.

It was meant to be a four-week absence through a hernia problem – yet ultimately spanned 29 matches.

Having damaged his adductor while kicking the ball with his left foot in a shooting session upon his comeback, Rafferty underwent a second operation in November.

And it’s the circumstances of that most recent set-back which are still rued by the in-form defender.

He told The News: ‘The first one was a hernia, which was basically a quick fix, a four-week turnaround, although I probably should have taken a little longer, but I always want to be back playing.

‘Then my adductor muscle went during a shooting session, so I needed another operation for that, in a similar area but two separate injuries.

‘I probably should have pulled out of that session. I’m old enough and experienced enough to pull out, but I didn’t want the manager knowing that I can’t do everything, because I wanted to play on the Saturday,

‘I don’t get a lot of shots in the game anyway, so I probably should have gone off and done some heading instead. It’s a slight regret.

‘I train every single day and even when I didn’t play much football last season with Preston, I didn’t miss a session – but it’s hard to pull out of things.

‘Most of the time I do extra, but it's a slight regret. I don’t want to go back over it and think about what I should and shouldn’t have done because that will just eat away at you.

‘It happened while striking a ball with my left foot, probably because I had something similar in that area and my body overcompensated from one muscle to the other.

‘I look for reasons why it happened, I’ve never had anything like it before, never had any operations, but I’m fine now.’

Rafferty has started all seven of Pompey’s matches over the last 27 days, seemingly unaffected by his long lay-off.

What’s more, performance levels have been consistently high as he shows the Fratton faithful what they’ve been missing.

The former Preston man added: ‘I’d never had any injuries like that before, so focused on making sure I was as strong as I possibly can be - and hopefully it doesn’t happen again.

‘I’ve done all right since I came and physically feel completely fine. It's just great to be back playing.’