Yadolahi eager for return to action with Drogs

Neil Yadolahi may only be 21, but the Drogheda United defender has already played professional football in England, Scotland, Ireland, Turkey and Armenia – coming through a number of trying personal experiences one would normally associate with a player at the end of their career as opposed to one at the beginning.

Because in essence, signing for the Drogs in the off-season has proved to be a new start for the well-travelled Yadolahi – though he very nearly ended up in another exotic desitination where another Emerald Exile, Cillian Sheridan, currently plies his trade.

 

“I came back to Ireland in December from Armenia and everything happened so quickly,” Yadolahi explained to Extratime.ie after the draw for the second round of the FAI Cup took place in the Aviva Stadium. “I was actually due to sign a deal out in Cyprus, but I couldn't sign anything until the transfer window opened in January.”

An agent put the Dubliner in touch with Johnny McDonnell, who had only been appointed to the United Park hotseat days before. Having spent most of his career to date away from home, and especially after enduring a difficult 18 months in Turkey with Bucaspor and in Armenia with FC Banants, Yadolahi liked what McDonnell had to say.

“The thing that stood out about Johnny was that he was honest - he'll tell you straight, he won't tell you any bull, any crap,” said Yadolahi. “I went away at a very young age at 16. I sacrificed a lot, like my education – Junior Cert was the most education I did.

“I had three and a half wonderful years at Burnley – I was in the first-team at 17. I went to Derby County after that and injury again hit that. I had more problems then in Turkey, things didn't work out there financially – a lot of messing around with money on their end. It's a lot of bad luck, really, and I don't like using the term luck.

“I'm only 21 and I've had these experience in these countries,” added Yadolahi. “To be fair, I wouldn't change it for anything because of the experience itself – the players, the standard of football that I've been playing. It's been phenomenal and it'll stand to me in the long-term.”

Unfortunately for the former Republic of Ireland U19 international, his progress at Drogheda has been hampered by another injury set-back – the recurrence of a grade two quad tear which he first suffered during his time at Burnley. Yadolahi had been an ever-present in Drogs' first five competitive games of 2015 and even netted his first goal for the club in the 3-2 win over Sligo Rovers.

Luckily for the defender, one phone call revealed that the time he spent as a player in England granted him the opportunity to make use of the English FA's St. George's Park facility in Burton. He has been travelling back and forth to undergo his rehabilitation over the last four weeks – all of which is funded by the Professional Footballer's Association.

Steve Kemp, the current physio for Roy Hodgson's England team, oversees the sessions and Yadolahi is pleased with the treatment he is receiving – he is due to fly back to England on Sunday for another week of intense work as he begins to step up his recovery.
 

“You're in great hands over there,” said Yadolahi. “Everything you do – your rehab, your sessions – everything is one-on-one, so you really, really get looked after very well. It's just what I needed.
 

“Clubs over in England have even better physios than here, but players still go to St. George's as well for extra one-on-one treatment, and I'm lucky to have that perk there for me because the thing I needed was the best treatment possible, and thankfully I'm getting it. I'm back running now, that's a big positive – it's nice to be out on the pitch with the boots on.

When asked how close he was to a return to first-team action, Yadolahi replied: “Two weeks, probably. Fingers crossed. I hate saying a timescale, I never actually ask physios myself for a timescale because you always add a couple of weeks – it's never going to be the time that they tell you.

“You don't want to get your hopes up because it's hard enough. Especially a tear, it could take eight weeks, 12 weeks, it all depends on how your body reacts to it. Like I said, hopefully two weeks. Next week is going to be an important week and we'll take things from there.”

Though he may be reluctant to take anything about his rehabilitation for granted, the former Bohemians man is desperate to get back onto the pitch and help his new Drogheda teammates pull clear of the relegation scrap developing around them.

“I've missed a lot of games unfortunately, and I've never liked watching games from the sideline,” Yadolahi admitted. “It's been a tough run of games for us as well, we've been very unfortunate. I'm just raring and eager to get back in the team and help the team push back up the table.”