George Marsh has bounced back from a seven-week injury lay-off – and he’s determined to demonstrate the midfield qualities that made his signing a priority in the summer.
Robbo landed one of his key targets with the arrival of former Spurs midfielder George, but his early progress was curtailed when he suffered a broken bone in his foot. One of the real positives to come out of Saturday’s defeat at Fratton Park was a cameo appearance by the 23-year-old and he’s eager to make up for lost time.
“It felt great to get back out on the pitch,” said our number six. “Obviously, I was a bit disappointed about the result, but it was so good to get back.
“The injury did not come at a great time for me, but I felt that I coped with it quite well, and that’s probably down to our physio Tim (Maynard) and our Sports Scientist Chris (McConnell). It was a brilliant programme, so that helped me get back quite quickly.
“I thought that I settled in well here because it feels like a family environment and everyone made me feel so welcome, but the injury came at the wrong time for me to show what I could do on the pitch. Hopefully, I can get a run of games to help the team as much as possible. I made a few appearances at the start of the season and I felt that I was getting into my groove before I got injured.”
Though central midfield is his preferred position, George has played right-back in the past and he would have no hesitation in playing there again if called upon.
“If the manager wanted me to play there I would feel comfortable. I played right-back when I was on loan at Orient, but Paul Osew did an amazing job against Portsmouth.”
The Dons host Crewe Alexandra tonight with valuable points up for grabs as Robbo’s boys seek to move up the League One table – and George can’t wait to play at a venue that helped lure him to Wimbledon.
“It’s an unbelievable new stadium, it was one of the reasons that made me want to come to this football club. I can’t wait to play there a lot more times in the future. Now that I’m fit again I want to prove myself on the pitch.
“The big crowds I played in front of during my time on loan at Orient helped me with experiences like coming on at Fratton Park with 15,000 fans there. My previous experience has helped me to settle into League One football.
“I feel that I’ve definitely come a long way since then. I’ve matured both on and off the pitch and I feel that my game has slowly improved during that time.”