JON Walters is ready to reproduce his top form after putting an injury nightmare behind him.

Derek Davis

By Derek Davis

JON Walters is ready to reproduce his top form after putting an injury nightmare behind him.

The Blues striker revealed a nerve problem left him virtually unable to walk after games and the pain was sometimes unbearable during games but would then just disappear.

That has led to Walters not performing as well as he did last season when he was the undoubted player of the year and being tipped for a move to the Premier League.

Walters said: “I am frustrated at not playing at that standard but I know why. With what has been going on with my leg it has been a difficult couple of months. Going right back to the Swansea home game the problem has been there right up until the Birmingham game on Boxing Day.

“I was in agonising pain between games, even during it for ten minutes at a time, then it would be better but suddenly come back again.

“Sometimes I was not training between games until the Friday - it was that bad.”

Almost as mysteriously as the pain arrived so the problem appears to have gone, but not without hours of pain and therapy.

Walters said: “I have to give big praise to the physios for patching me up and getting me going because some days I could hardly walk. It was that bad I could not pt any weight on the leg or I would get a shooting pain down the leg.

“It was a nerve problem but nothing showed up on the scans but it has gradually gone away.”

And that, insists Walters, has set him up for a really positive second half of the campaign.

He said: “It has gone now and I have been training well for the past three weeks and I'm happy in myself now.

“I'm really buzzing and positive now because I'm fit. I'm really looking forward now to getting back to where I was in terms of performances.”

Although he is fully committed to Town and showed that by signing a new deal earlier this season, Walters admits he would not mind being the subject of transfer speculation once more after being out of the limelight.

He smiled: “It has probably been because I have not been playing as well as I was last year. I have signed a contract but it is nice sometimes to have the speculation because it means you are playing well.

“In another way I'm happy there is not because I'm more than happy here and staying.”

Although he prefers playing on the right side of midfield where he was a revelation last year, Walters is more than happy to be flexible and do his bit for the team.

He said: “I like playing wherever I'm playing. Sometimes it is difficult to go from right to left to up front and you may not be performing brilliantly but you are doing a job for the team. So you may have to sacrifice playing where you like playing to do a job for the team.

“I enjoyed being on the right last year with David (Wright) behind me, that went really well. Sometime sit depends who you are playing against or with but given how well I did on the right last season that is probably where I enjoy playing the most.”

Walters appreciates that Town need a win at Selhurst Park tomorrow or the season could slip away.

He said: “All game against a Warnock side are difficult because they are so direct. They pick up on second balls and they have players who can turn it on a bit and change games so it is never easy.

“They have Alan and Shefki and possibly Scowie and they will be looking forward to playing against us.

“We need to win because we have been cut adrift so we need all three points to be in with a sniff.

“A draw at palace early in the season would be seen as a decent result but not know when we are so far behind.

“It could be an edgy game but we both need the points and it could be about who wants it more.”

It could be a painful affair but Walters is more than used to that and is just happy to be playing freely.

derek.davis@eadt.co.uk