“Hopefully, I Can Come Back Stronger”

Marcus Olsson believes that patience is key as he works to fight from a serious injury for the first time in his professional career.

After a stop-start campaign, Olsson looked to have established himself as a starter as Derby County switched to a back-three for the last few games of the season.

The 30-year-old started at left wing-back as the Rams fought their way back into play-off contention with a stunning 3-1 win against Cardiff City at Pride Park Stadium, before he was included in the eleven for the final game of the regular season against Barnsley.

Unfortunately, Olsson had to be withdrawn before half-time after suffering an anterior cruciate ligament injury and now, he is fully focussed on his recovery at the Training Centre.

He told RamsTV: “I am getting a lot of good help and there is a lot of good work being done by the physios, so I am just trying to make the best of it.

“I’m very confident in everybody that helps me around here.

“It’s very long, but I have to be positive and hopefully I can come back stronger.

“They have told me that it’s not an injury to rush, you want to take your time and make sure that everything is right before you get out there on the pitch.

“It could take longer than it should because you want everything to be right, but you just need to have patience.

“When I felt it, I didn’t expect it to be bad, because it’s nothing that I’ve had before, but that’s life.”

On-loan striker Sam Winnall suffered a similar injury in February against Brentford, and the blow came about in a comparably innocuous fashion for Olsson.

“I was trying to block a cross, but I planted my left foot and I felt a sharp pain in my knee,” he explained.

“I went down, and Robin [Sadler] said to try and sprint down the line and see how it feels, and it felt okay, a little bit sore but I kept playing.

“It was another challenge and I heard a click, but I thought that it would probably settle within a week, but the scan showed that it was the ACL.”

As well as working on his recovery, Olsson will be keeping a proud eye on the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia, with his twin brother Martin set to play a key role for Sweden.

Looking ahead to the tournament, he said: “It’s a tough group! I’m happy that he’s going to be there, it will be nice to watch him play in the World Cup.

“Sweden haven’t played in the World Cup for a while so it’s good for the country and everybody is looking forward to it.

“It won’t be easy, but anything can happen.”