AFC Bournemouth
Following over six weeks out injured and finally now having the chance to take on his former team, no-one in the Cherries squad is more excited to play Luton Town this weekend than Jack Stacey.
The forward-thinking full-back joined the Cherries 18 months ago, but has unluckily missed both chances he’s had to come up against the Hatters with his new side.
Stacey won two successive promotions with the Hatters prior to joining Bournemouth and newly back and fit from a knee injury that kept him out for the final weeks of 2020, the 24-year-old is now champing at the bit to finally reacquaint himself with some familiar faces.
"I watched the Luton game this season on afcbTV at home,” Stacey told afcb.co.uk. “It was a hard one for me to take, I missed the FA Cup game last January so when the fixtures came out this year it was one of the first matches I looked for – then I ended up missing that one as well!
"When I first got the injury this was one of the first games that we saw and earmarked to try and get back for. I used that as motivation to get back for this Luton game on Saturday.
"Luckily, I managed to get back a week earlier for the Oldham game, but it's something I'm definitely looking forward to, finally to play against a lot of old friends there and see some old faces.”
The defender’s absence was a frustrating one, but after suffering what seemed an innocuous twinge during the first half of the November match, Stacey talked through a worrying few days that he feared could have brought his season to a premature end.
He explained: "It was a strange one, it was against my old team Reading. I felt something in my knee but it was almost then the adrenaline that got me through to the end of the game.
"At half time we were losing by two goals so I didn't want to come off the pitch at all, it wasn't until that evening when the adrenaline wore off and I really felt something in there.
"I was probably like everyone else, not thinking it was that serious. It was only the next day when I saw the full extent of how swollen the knee was and not being able to put much pressure on it.
"I went in, spoke to the physios and we did some tests. At that point they said they couldn't rule out whether the ACL was fully torn or not, that was something that was really hard for me to get my head round.
"It could have been this season gone, and even the start of the next. I had to give myself a bit of time, I left the physio room a bit emotional to be honest.
"It was a tough couple of days before I got the scan and then thankfully the news was that it was only six to eight weeks, I then felt very grateful that it wasn't as serious as it could have been.
"You think of the worst situation straight away, but that feeling I had then I used as motivation to get back when the rehab was tough, I thought that this could have been nine to 12 months. I'm just grateful I'm back on the pitch already this season.”
Stacey’s return came last weekend with a start and over an hour of pain-free football in the FA Cup, before a brief Championship return on Tuesday night as a late substitute.
"I felt good,” he said of his current state. “It's something we still have to keep on top of so I work on it every day, but the Oldham game, getting through 65 minutes with no real reaction and then being ready to go again on Tuesday against Millwall was massive.
"Both were really good signs, so hopefully it's not going to cause me any bother now.”
The return has put the recent weeks of rehab to the back of the full-back’s mind, with the focus now shifts to Saturday’s fixture against a Hatters side well known to him.
"I had a really good two years there,” said Stacey of his time at Kenilworth Road. “I made some really good friends there and it's a club that set me up for the career I'll hopefully go on and achieve.
"I only have good things to say about the club, and it'll be really nice to see the players – it's just a shame that I won't be able to see some of the fans as well.”
With a number of links between Saturday’s two opponents, Stacey also spoke about finally getting the chance to link up with current Cherries coach Graeme Jones, under whose charge the defender briefly was at Luton, before signing in Dorset.
Ticketing Information
All you need to know on our ticketing, opening hours and access around Vitality Stadium.
He continued: "I was there for about a week of pre-season while Graeme was the manager and I could see the knowledge that he had and his tactical ability. It was almost a shame that I left because I didn't get to play under him.
"Then when he joined here one of the first things he said to me was that he'd finally get to work with me.
"That was nice, he brings so much to the team so I'm glad we’re finally getting the chance to work together."
