Barry's on the long road back

Fleetwood's Anthony Barry has taken the first steps in his long road to recovery after more than a year out injured.

The midfielder, 25, has been plagued by knee problems over the past two seasons and has barely featured since The Cod Army entered the Football League for the first time last August. But after going under the knife several times to rectify the problem, Barry now hopes the worst is behind him after joining in team training on Monday in front of new manager Graham Alexander. He told Fleetwood's official website: "I joined in with the lads on Monday for the first time. It had always been planned that way. "It just coincided with the new gaffer being here and it's just all falling into place a little bit, finally. "It went great. I started off a bit tentative and on the back foot but 20 minutes in it just started to flow and even three days in I'm feeling it come back. "It's still very early days as far as my comeback goes but at least it's started now. There's been so many ups and downs, I'm just hoping I've turned the corner now. Barry is keen to bide his time, though, and added: "It's just a case of (taking it) day-by-day. Hopefully we come in every day and it's all right and we just keep building and building. "I don't think it's going to be straightforward, none of it has been, but I'll just keep my fingers crossed, keep working hard and hopefully get a bit of luck. "People can come back physically but not come back mentally from knocks like this. But, even to get through this, I know how strong I am. "I think I've got a massive future ahead of me. I just want to get back and show everybody what I can do."