Inverness Caley Thistle striker speaks of his injuries but is determined to keep playing to get them out of relegation trouble
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ALEX Samuel has certainly been in the wars since his loan move from Ross County to Inverness Caledonian Thistle at the start of the year.
Playing with a bandaged up fractured hand, which was followed by a painful tackle to his shin and required stitches against Arbroath last Saturday, it has made it a tough start for the striker at Inverness.
However, he has continued to play on and says he is determined to give everything he has to get Inverness out of the relegation zone.
Samuel had to go to hospital in his previous two matches for Inverness before Tuesday night's game against Dunfermline Athletic at the Caledonian Stadium.
He was pleased that he managed to go straight home from the stadium on Tuesday, if not pleased with the goalless draw.
However, despite his rough start at Inverness, he says he is prepared to give everything he has, regardless of the injuries he is recovering from.
He said: "So far I have fractured my hand and I had a tackle which was deep enough that it had to have three stitches after just 20 minutes of the game on Saturday.
"But I managed to get strapped up and managed to carry on. Thankfully I had nothing serious against Dunfermline and did not have to go to accident and emergency like I did in the previous two matches.
"It is a positive that I am not going to A&E after the match against Dunfermline and I think my wife will be happy about that too.
"Regardless of the injuries, the adrenaline kicks in and you are focussed on the game and doing your job, that is where I stand and I give 100 per cent regardless of whatever body condition I am in.
"I hope people can see that and I am willing to fight for the team."
Samuel was disappointed Inverness could only take a point against Dunfermline Athletic on Tuesday night in the 0-0 draw.
It leaves them in ninth place in the relegation play-off zone, two points behind Dunfermline in eighth.
They did move seven points clear of Arbroath at the bottom of the table after they were thrashed 6-0 at Queen's Park on Tuesday night.
Samuel says the club need to remain optimistic and is asking for the fans to get behind them when they face Greenock Morton at Cappielow on Saturday.
Speaking about the result against Dunfermline on Tuesday, he said: "It was a 50/50 game, one goal would have done it either way, it was a frustrating game, it didn't fall for us and we need to pick ourselves up.
"We take the positives of getting a clean sheet at home which is something we have struggled with recently. Defensively we were good against Dunfermline, in these situations you have to take the positives and that is what we'll take and push on.
"We need everyone, fans included, to encourage and push us on.
"The teams has given a 100 per cent even with the injury list that is piling up. We are doing our best and that is all we can do at this moment."
