'I was thinking how am I ever going to come back from this?’ - Portsmouth goalkeeper Alex Bass relives fears his career was over - and how he put troubles behind him at Bradford City

Just seven weeks after sustaining a hairline fracture in his leg, the now 24-year-old suffered a recurrence of the injury in March 2021 while on loan with Southend.

His emergency spell with the Shrimpers was designed to rehabilitate him back to senior football – but instead it almost cost him his time in the sport.

And the homegrown talent revealed he was fearing the worst after knowing the extent of the break straight away.

He told The News: ‘It was obviously tough, I can’t lie. When I went on an emergency loan to Southend and refractured it, I knew exactly what I had done because it was the exact same pain.

‘All I was thinking was “I’ve ruined it now, how am I ever going to come back from this?”.

‘I worked hard, and I knew that I just needed rest because I maybe rushed it a week or two early due to the opportunity at Southend, which I didn’t think I was going to get anywhere else.

‘So maybe I rushed it a couple of weeks early, but I knew when I did it the second time it was just going to take time to heal.’

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By the time Bass was back to full fitness there was a new man at the Fratton helm – Danny Cowley.

The ex-Lincoln boss had replaced Kenny Jackett temporarily - then handed the full-time role after missing out on the play-offs on the final day of the 2020-21 season.

One of the Fratton chief’s first pre-season acts was to bring goalkeeper Gavin Bazunu to the club as his first choice – leaving limited chances for Bass.

This prompted his loan move to Bradford in January where he made 21 appearances, thus proving to his injury troubles were behind him.

He added: ‘I knew I had the whole end of the season and off season for it to heal completely.

‘Then when I returned to pre-season with that amount of time behind me, it would have healed and all I needed was to get my body back training.

‘I obviously had tough times. When you rebreak something you’ve already done seven weeks before, it’s not nice.

‘I remember the drive home from Southend, I was absolutely devastated. That’s football, though, and things happen for a reaso.

‘I’m glad I’ve managed to get through this season injury free – hopefully it’s the start of good things to come now.’