 DANNY SIMPSON is targeting a mid-September comeback after revealing the full extent of the injury woe that has robbed him of his dream Old Trafford return. The popular right-back has been on crutches for six weeks as he recovers from an operation to repair a ruptured tendon. Simpson, who had been playing through the pain as United clinched promotion, admits he was “shocked” to find out the extent of the damage to his ankle, which was only discovered when he went under the knife at the end of the season. “I must admit, I was shocked when I came round from the operation and heard how serious the injury was,” he told the Chronicle. “I was playing with the injury towards the end of the season and I knew it didn’t feel 100%. But I talked to the physios and coaches and they assured me I’d be OK to play the games. “It wasn’t feeling that bad, to be honest, and I was able to get through the games, but when I went to London at the end of the season it ended up being quite a lot more serious than we had first thought. “There was a bit of chipped bone in there that was floating around and causing problems and I had actually ruptured my tendon, which was a big surprise because I thought it would just be a couple of weeks’ rest.” Simpson’s comeback is tentatively scheduled for mid-September, with the defender hoping to return to training in a little under three months. He has already been boosted by news that his recovery is progressing ahead of schedule and admits he feels “lucky” that it didn’t happen during the season. “It is the best time to get the injury. I might have missed half the season if I’d had the operation while the season was going on,” he said. “Hopefully now I’ll not miss that many games. It’s difficult to put an exact time on it but I seem to be healing quite quickly, so you never know. “Hopefully I’ll be back in training in September and I’ll be looking to get involved by the end of the month. I just want to be back as soon as possible. “It’s difficult because I was buzzing to start playing but it’s not been much fun being on crutches for the last month and a half, but I’ve been back in Manchester and my family have helped.” Simpson was hugely disappointed that the fixture list threw up a return to his former club on the first weekend of the season. It means he will have to wait to prove his point to the Old Trafford regulars. “I’m gutted,” he said. “I felt like I was going to go back with a bit of a point to prove to the people who had maybe doubted me, but now I won’t get the chance. I’ve just got to look at the positives and, hopefully, we’ll get loads of games at Old Trafford in the next few seasons. I’ll be there getting behind the lads.” | 
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