Simon Ferry is putting himself through the “agony” of shockwave therapy on his Achilles to get fit for Peterhead.
The Blue Toon midfielder had his first of three rounds of treatment last Thursday and was able to feature in the 3-2 defeat against Airdrieonians.
He visited former Peterhead captain Steven Noble, who is a physiotherapist, for the course of therapy. However, he has not been able to train during the week and will not likely see any benefits until after the sessions have been completed.
“Steg (Steven Noble) messaged me and said he’d seen I was struggling with my Achilles and that he thought I needed shock treatment,” said Ferry.
“I went up on Thursday – it was agony. It’s like a needle going into the sore part of your Achilles.
“I needed six minutes on each and he’s confident it’ll need three rounds of it. But you’re meant to leave it a week inbetween.
“I’m not meant to do anything – get as much rest as I can between sessions – but with a big game on Saturday I wanted to play. It’s tough, because I sat on the couch for two days after getting it, which is not ideal preparation.”
Ferry had sat out Peterhead’s loss at Montrose and the SPFL Trust Trophy game against Dundee B, making his return against Airdrieonians.
However, it was a far from pleasant afternoon which left the 33-year-old very unhappy at how the team have been performing.
He said: “It’s not good enough in any department. I think we had the ball in some good areas, but didn’t test the goalie enough.
“Defensively we were terrible and I include myself in that. We were miles off it, in terms of getting close to people and winning our individual battles.
“We’re not playing mugs; Falkirk will be trying to win the league, Montrose will be up there and Airdrie were in the play-offs last year. I’m not making excuses because it hasn’t been good enough.
“We go away to Falkirk and Montrose, play a midweek game (against Dundee B) where the Dundee boys can’t play and I can’t play. The boys are being asked to play constantly on AstroTurf when we don’t normally train on that.
“It’s been a tough start, but that’s what being a football player is all about. We’ve been off it. Other than Brett the goalie, who could you pick that’s started the season well?”
He reckons the youngsters in the Blue Toon squad will be getting a crash-course in what football at the professional level is all about, after three defeats on the bounce.
Ferry added: “This is where the loan boys will see what football is about. They came last year when we were doing well and winning games.
“But now this is where they’ll get a test of character and see who they are as people. We understand they’re going to make mistakes and it’s about encouraging them – when it isn’t going well for them – to keep getting the ball.”