Adelaide United striker George Blackwood focuses on Reds progress following injury nightmare

GEORGE Blackwood considers it the most challenging period of his young career. But the Adelaide United striker has emerged from his injury nightmare focused on helping the Reds crack the A-League top four.

Adelaide United striker George Blackwood has featured in the Reds’ past four matches after overcoming back-to-back injuries. Picture: Ashley Feder/Getty Images

GEORGE Blackwood considers it the most challenging period of his young career.

The Adelaide United striker had fought back from fracturing his knee cap in pre-season to come on as a second-half substitute in the Reds’ round-two meeting with Newcastle.

Less than an hour later, Blackwood was facing another two months on the sidelines after breaking his collarbone in an aerial clash with Jets goalkeeper Glen Moss. “It was really frustrating,” Blackwood, 21, said.

“I had the injury in pre-season where I was out for eight or nine weeks.

“I finally got back feeling really good and feeling strong, and then in my first game back I’ve done the collarbone.

“It’s really hard because the motivation isn’t always there when you’re coming back from so many injuries like that.

“But you’ve just to keep going and keep plugging away and hope that the luck will turn your way.” Blackwood returned to action last month, ironically against Newcastle, wearing a brace to protect his collarbone after missing seven A-League matches.

He made his fourth substitute appearance in as many games in the 2-1 loss to his former club Sydney FC on Sunday, winning the penalty Craig Goodwin converted to give the Reds hope.

“I thought I made an impact when I came on,” said NSW-born Blackwood, who had his Dad and a friend watching from the stands at Jubilee Stadium. “I was just trying to make things happen and I was trying to get into good areas where I can take defenders on one-v-one, because that’s one of my strengths.

“I feel like I’m slowly getting there. The injury was bad timing, but it only makes you stronger mentally coming back from things like that.

“I’m always looking on the positive side of things. That’s what you’ve got to do with football, because there’s always going to be ups and downs.” The Australian under-23 international’s setbacks had mirrored the struggles of his fellow Reds front men this campaign.

Adelaide United’s George Blackwood breaks his collarbone in a round-two clash with Newcastle Jets goalkeeper Glen Moss. Picture: Sarah Reed

Senegalese hitman Baba Diawara had managed just 23 minutes of action due to a knee injury and youngster Apostolos Stamatelopoulos had missed the past six games with a quad problem.

Blackwood said nailing down a regular staring spot was his priority, as sixth-placed Adelaide aimed to climb back into top-four calculations starting with Friday’s trip to Western Sydney. “That’s what I’ve been aiming to do since I’ve been here,” said Blackwood, who had scored five goals for Adelaide since arriving last season.

“But we want to keep all of our players fit. Then we’ve got a fight on for positions and that’s always good for the team.

“You look at the fixtures and you know which ones you need to win. We’ve got a few of those coming up so fingers crossed we can get the results and build more consistency.”