Nathan Holland is targeting a strong end to the season after making his return after four months out with a hamstring injury.
The exciting winger made an eye-catching comeback in Sunday’s 1-0 Premier League 2 Division 1 defeat by Chelsea at Chigwell Construction Stadium, where he successfully came through a pre-planned 60-minute appearance.
Reassuringly, Holland showed the same pace, acceleration and elusiveness that saw him make his first-team debut in the Carabao Cup win over Bolton Wanderers at London Stadium in September.
“When I’ve been sprinting all the data from training has been good, so to get back out there on the pitch now is great," he explained.
“It’s a great moment for me after working hard behind the scenes and hopefully I can just get fitter now and get back to my best.
“When it first happened I was down about it, but I got over it as quickly as I could and worked hard. Thank you to Tom [Smith, Academy head of elite performance and sports medicine] and Matt [Bramhall, Academy strength & conditioning coach] for working hard with me and getting me back on the pitch feeling good."
It’s a great moment for me after working hard behind the scenes and hopefully I can just get fitter now and get back to my best
Nathan Holland
Having taken confidence from his comeback appearance, Holland is looking to finish the campaign strongly.
“We were unlucky not to get a result on Sunday," he added. "Hopefully the hard work will pay off in the next matches coming up.
“We started the season really well and we’ve shown how we can play. If we perform as we can the results will come. We want to finish the season strongly.
“It was good to play with Marcus Browne again on Saturday. He’s been given the captaincy and with that responsibility, he has the job of keeping the team pushing forward.
“It's not only that - just by the way he plays helps us push on the pitch. It’s good for him to have that responsibility."