James Norwood’s groin injury is something Ipswich Town will have to manage for the rest of the season but the striker has insisted he will play through the pain to help fire the Blues to promotion.
The 29-year-old limped out of Tuesday night's victory at MK Dons before half-time as the groin issue, which came up in his summer medical ahead of his move to Suffolk, meant he was unable to continue.
While manager Paul Lambert believes it's something he and his medical team will need to monitor, the striker has declared himself fit to play when the Blues take on Gillingham tomorrow.
"I trained today and I'm fit for selection," Norwood said. "Things are looking good. It's all settled down well.
"It's something I've been carrying and it just had a little bit too much Tuesday. But I'm good to go again.
"It showed up on my medical. It's something I've been managing. We've been looking at different options for and I'm continuing to play. It's not a problem as of yet.
"I think that's the first time I've come off with any kind of injury in my career. So it was a bit of a shock and I didn't really know how to handle it.
"Thankfully it settled right down and I'm training three days later."
When asked how he deals with the problem on a day-to-day basis, Norwood said: "I liaise with the physio every day and tell him how I'm feeling. If I have to taper down on certain days I will, but ultimately I go out and train pretty much every day and carry on.
"It's about feeling the pain and just fighting it. If you ask any footballer you don't feel 100% any of the time.
"As long as you can get through training and through games and your performance levels don't drop too far then you're good to go.
"Players always have achy knees and achy ankles. It's just part and parcel of football and you get on with it."
Norwood appeared in an average of 47 games a season during his four years at Tranmere but, if required, he accepts he may be rested as Lambert flexes his squad this season.
"The gaffer has brought me here to do what I do. My past tells you I play 45-50 games a season," he said.
"I'm robust in that sense, it's something I can do, but if the gaffer wants to make changes eight, nine, 10 games in then that's fine.
"We've got players that can fill in and we've proven that already with the rotational system.
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"We're all professional footballers. It's got to be whatever's best for the team in the gaffer's eyes.
"Every player wants to play every single game, but the majority, if not all, the lads won't do that this season. It's something you've got to accept."
Asked about Norwood's injury, Lambert said: "He seems to be but, like everybody else, we'll see how he is and see if there's any reaction from Tuesday night.
"I've seen players come off in early parts of games and still be fit for Saturday - it all depends on any given time.
"He'll train and then we'll judge it from there.
"We might need to manage it, have a look at it and maybe curtail training or certain games but we'll see how it is. We'll have dialogue from now until the end."
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