THE days turned into weeks, the weeks into months, the months into a year. Time ticked on but Lewis Macleod’s career stood still.
Now it is all about the minutes for the midfielder. He would accumulate just eight on the park for Brentford last season, yet he has plenty more to look forward to at present.
Macleod has started the Bees’ first two Championship fixtures of the new campaign against Huddersfield and Ipswich and is set to feature once again when Nottingham Forest visit Griffin Park this evening.
It has been a while since Macleod was able to feel the buzz of a match day and count down to kick-off knowing that he would be involved. Since leaving Rangers in January last year, the 22-year-old has spent more time in the stands than on the park.
After emerging as one of the finest and most promising young players of his generation, Macleod has been denied the chance to prove himself. He is now ready to come of age, though.
“I’m looking forward to the season,” Macleod told SportTimes. “The result against Huddersfield in the opening game didn’t go the way we would have liked, but, at the same time, I was glad to get back out on the pitch.
“It was my first start in a Championship match since coming down here. It was a wee bit weird being down here for so long without being involved on the pitch and starting in a league match.
“I feel as if I have been down here a long time. So I was happy to play. Hopefully I can continue to be involved.
“It’s been the same injury the whole time. At one point last season I managed to get myself back into the fold, but I twisted my knee in training.
“When my hamstring eventually got better I wasn’t really match fit. But this is me now, after struggling with it for 18 months, finally getting over that.
“It has been a long, long time coming. But I am finally feeling the best I have in a long time.”
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Having seen the light and now reached the end of the tunnel, Macleod hopes his darkest days are behind him. He is finally ready to make his mark in England.
The lifelong Light Blue fan became a firm favourite with the Ibrox crowd as he stood out in the Third Division and League One but would leave his boyhood heroes before the end of an ultimately futile bid for promotion to the Premiership.
His final appearance for the Gers was the night of one of the lowest points of ‘The Journey’ as Ally McCoist’s side lost 3-2 to Alloa in the Challenge Cup.
Weeks later, he was sold by the former Ibrox board as he entered the toughest time of his fledgling career.
“I have seen a lot of specialists and I have been to a lot of places,” Macleod said.
“I have had a lot of hard work to do and it has been a long road to recovery. I have had to focus on running to get myself fit again and thankfully it has worked. There finally seems to be a positive outlook.
“One of the main reasons I have taken so long to get fit was because I was wanting to impress too much after I signed.
“I probably shouldn’t have been training when I was. I should have just been focusing on getting back fit instead of looking to play. It is easy to say that with hindsight obviously.
“I have only really had six months when I have been available. I had a spell at the end of last season. I have also had a good pre-season and, as I say, now I am fit and looking to play as much as I possibly can.
“It’s not ideal to go through it more than once. But the fact that I know what to expect and how to deal with things off the pitch while I have been out injured has helped a lot.
“The really hard thing to handle was being away from home down here and being out injured. That has been hard.”
With his injury nightmare now hopefully behind him, Macleod can focus on the future once again as he looks to realise his undoubted potential.
His form for Rangers saw him rewarded with an international call-up to Gordon Strachan’s squad for the Euro qualifier with Ireland in November 2014.
If his story had unfolded differently, it could have been the first of many for the midfielder. That chapter could still be written but he has other priorities at present.
Macleod said: “The injury came at a bad time when I was on the outskirts of the squad. It is obviously something that you look towards but it will be further down the line.
“Just now, I am focusing on getting back playing regularly. If anything other than club football comes around again then I will be delighted but I am just looking to get back playing as much as I can.
“I have not heard [from Strachan]. When you come away from the squad, you fall away from things.
“I am not in the spotlight as much here as I was at Rangers, which is what I prefer. I have not been in touch with him.”
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