Thursday 2 October 2014 12:26, UK
British and Irish Lions prop Alex Corbisiero has set himself the target of recovering from a nasty shoulder injury in time for England's Six Nations matches.
The 26-year-old Northampton loosehead prop faces surgery this week, and a three-month lay-off, after damaging shoulder ligaments in the Saints' win over Bath on Saturday.
You get frustrated about things that are out of your hands. You just have to have little reminders to yourself to redirect yourself to what you can control.
“It was a one-off injury, an unlucky bang,” Corbisiero told the Daily Telegraph.
“I hit my shoulder and jolted it and it partially dislocated and ripped some of the ligaments off when it came out and they have got to be re-attached for me to have a stable shoulder.
“It is frustrating to say the least after having a bad run last season and feeling like I had turned the corner and was back to my best again and feeling healthy – training and playing with no issues.
“Then something happens, but it is something that I can recover 100 per cent fully from and I will just get back to where I am again.
“The surgery will anchor the ligaments back on, then it is about letting those heal, getting my range of motion back and getting my strength back and then I will be ready to go.
"My aim is to be fit and playing again for Saints and to be putting my hand up for the Six Nations. That is what I am fully focusing on.”
“You have to keep yourself on a positive mind frame,” he added. “You can’t focus on things you can’t control, which I think is very hard at times.
"You get frustrated about things that are out of your hands. You just have to have little reminders to yourself to redirect yourself to what you can control.
“I felt I was on the brink of being back to, or surpassing my best form, and it is just frustrating that I have got a little bump in the road. But again it is a bump, it is not the end of the road.
“There is still plenty of time once I get back playing again to finish the season in top form to take that hopefully into the World Cup.
“I will be back. I am not going to get down. I have had to learn the hard way that injuries are a setback and are not the end. I am confident this is a straightforward injury.”
The US-born prop's career has been blighted by a string of injuries and he needed surgery to both knees last year to overcome niggling problems.
He earned widespread plaudits for his destructive performances for the British and Irish Lions during the first and third Tests of their victorious series in Australia last summer, but played just six games for Northampton last season due to injuries.
