Samir Nurkovic, a striker for Kaizer Chiefs, has revealed his injury status.

Samir Nurkovic, a striker for Kaizer Chiefs, has revealed his injury status.

Samir Nurkovic, a striker with Kaizer Chiefs, has provided an update on his injuries, stating that he should be back in action in nine weeks.

After injuring his meniscus in last season’s CAF Champions League semi-final against Wydad Casablanca, the Serbian striker had surgery on his meniscus in December.

The doctors assumed he’d be able to play on and avoid surgery, but he battled and couldn’t give it his all.

He told the club’s media department, “The injury actually happened at the close of last season; we were playing [CAF] Champions League second leg versus Wydad Casablanca.”

“I conferred with the doctors and physiotherapists, and we agreed to continue with some treatment so that surgery would be the very last resort.”

“As you can see, the game after that wasn’t my finest. Due to an injury, I was having trouble on the field. We chose to have surgery after those five games.

“We knew in the beginning after that game, we did all the MRI [scans], I’ve been in the hospital for all the screening, and they found out that there is a problem, there is a tear in my lateral meniscus.

“You can play with that, but you can’t play at 100 percent, maybe at 70 percent, and I wasn’t able to give the best Samir Nurkovic to the team on the field and help them the way I can.”

Nurkovic, on the other hand, has stated that he has accelerated his recuperation and expects to return to action in mid-February.

“I was on crutches for three weeks and just stopped using them yesterday, so I started cycling and the knee is getting better and better every day,” he confirmed.

“The doctor who performed the surgery said it would take about nine weeks, but it also depends on you.” Hopefully, there will be a nine-week wait.

“We only started cycling last week. Physios are with me all the time, talking, calling, and asking how I’m doing.

“We’re doing everything, but it takes time and we have to take [it] step by step to be fully recovered.”

“When you are in such a big club like Kaizer Chiefs, you have all the best doctors, physios and all that staff. You have people around you telling you what to do all the time. That’s why the recovery process goes faster.”

Nurkovic has a chance to play against Cape Town City on February 15, assuming his recuperation goes according to plan.