Kaizer Chiefs marksman Samir Nurkovic has opened up on his battle with injury that saw him undergo surgery at the start of the season.
The 29-year-old is the first to admit that he was not able to replicate the rich vein of form that he displayed when he first joined Chiefs three seasons ago, attributing his dip in form to an injury that he sustained in the club's fairytale CAF Champions League run last season.
"The injury actually happened at the end of last season; we were playing [CAF] Champions League second leg against Wydad Casablanca. I consulted with the doctors and the physios and we decided to keep going with some treatment so to leave surgery as a last option," Nurkovic told Chiefs' media department.
"As you saw, that wasn't my best game that I was playing after that. I was struggling on the field with an injury then after five games, we decided that we have to do surgery," he added.
The Serbian striker says he was operating at 70% of his capacity due to the injury, which he later discovered was more serious than initially anticipated.
"We knew in the beginning after that game, we did all the MRI [scans] I was in the hospital for all the screening, and they found out that there was a tear in my lateral meniscus, and you can play with that – but you cannot play on 100%. I was maybe at 70% and I wasn't able to give the best Samir Nurkovic to the team on the field and to help them the way I can."
The good news for Nurkovic and Chiefs is that 'Kokota' has already started his recovery and has been back in the gym cycling while parting ways with the crutches post-surgery.
"I was on crutches for three weeks, just yesterday I stopped using them, so I already started with cycling and the knee is getting better and better every day," he added.
