Having spent the best part of a year sidelined through injury, Adam Hayton has recently stepped up his rehabilitation programme as he nears his return to action. The young goalkeeper, who arrived at Oakwell from Tottenham Hotspur in January 2023, was a regular in our U21s set-up before joining Worksop on loan at the start of last season. However, this lengthy setback saw the 20-year-old miss virtually the entire 23/24 campaign as he suffered complications with a bulged disc in his back. “I was just getting a load of sciatic nerve pain – I didn’t know too much about what it was,” discussed Hayton. “I thought it was just a tight hamstring and had to stop playing. “I was on loan at Worksop at the time, which was August last year. I stopped playing there and was out for a few weeks to a month doing rehab, got back out on the grass and did a little bit, but that pain didn’t really go away unfortunately. “Two months ago, I had to have surgery. It took a lot of time to get to the bottom of what it was; I went for some injections and stuff but none of it ever worked. “But luckily now I’m on the mend and feeling great.” After months of treatment in the physio room and working tirelessly in the gym, Hayton was back out on the grass last week as the first team returned to South Yorkshire for pre-season training. He also worked alongside new goalkeeping coach, James Bittner, as he got the ball at his feet and became accustomed to distributing once more. “It was really good,” smiled our stopper. “It was only my second day, so I’ve still got a bit of a way to go, but I’m slowly getting there. “I started off on the crash mat doing some diving – that was some good fun. I’ve only worked with him for two days now, just introducing the basics like handling and passing. “He seems really good; I spoke to him the other day in detail, and he’s got good experience in the game, so I’m looking forward to working with him more.” Continue reading...
