Ruben Loftus-Cheek has lifted the lid on the double-edged sword of a powerful physique blighted by chronic back problems.
The Chelsea and England midfielder has seen his return from long-term Achilles trouble delayed by the coronavirus shutdown.
Loftus-Cheek was inching towards his first action since May when the Premier League was suspended on March 13.
The 24-year-old has branded his latest injury battle "my toughest hurdle yet", in an Instagram post revealing an engaging video feature on his recovery.
Loftus-Cheek tore his Achilles tendon in Chelsea's charity match against New England Revolution in Boston in May, missing the Blues' Europa League final triumph over Arsenal later that month.
Now itching to get going as and when football resumes, Loftus-Cheek has opened up on how he has to manage long-standing back troubles – and the power of positive thinking.
"My physical presence, how powerful I am, is my biggest strength," said Loftus-Cheek.
"But my body is also my weakness. And that's just what I have to manage.
"I have to manage my body, and that's what I've learned a lot about. So it's working smart, working hard but listening to your body as well.
"Be aware of your journey and pay attention to it. The mental side of being injured is hard; it's hard. Going through the tough times it hardens you, and makes you a better player.
"I have to have the mindset of not regretting those things. I have those moments: 'who would I be now if I hadn't had those injuries?'
"But I have to counter that as well and say 'who would I be without those injuries?'
"There's a right way to think, and a wrong way to think. You have to practise, it's a skill, to think properly. I just really didn't want to rush (back from the Achilles injury).
"The hardest part for me (of being injured) has been actually watching the games. Seeing them play, and seeing them win, and lose in the bad times, that's so hard."
RESULT
Al Hilal 4 Persepolis 0
Khribin (31', 54', 89'), Al Shahrani 40'
Red card: Otayf (Al Hilal, 49')
Sole survivors
- Cecelia Crocker was on board Northwest Airlines Flight 255 in 1987 when it crashed in Detroit, killing 154 people, including her parents and brother. The plane had hit a light pole on take off
- George Lamson Jr, from Minnesota, was on a Galaxy Airlines flight that crashed in Reno in 1985, killing 68 people. His entire seat was launched out of the plane
- Bahia Bakari, then 12, survived when a Yemenia Airways flight crashed near the Comoros in 2009, killing 152. She was found clinging to wreckage after floating in the ocean for 13 hours.
- Jim Polehinke was the co-pilot and sole survivor of a 2006 Comair flight that crashed in Lexington, Kentucky, killing 49.
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League semi-final, first leg
Barcelona v Liverpool, Wednesday, 11pm (UAE).
Second leg
Liverpool v Barcelona, Tuesday, May 7, 11pm
Games on BeIN Sports
Dubai works towards better air quality by 2021
Dubai is on a mission to record good air quality for 90 per cent of the year – up from 86 per cent annually today – by 2021.
The municipality plans to have seven mobile air-monitoring stations by 2020 to capture more accurate data in hourly and daily trends of pollution.
These will be on the Palm Jumeirah, Al Qusais, Muhaisnah, Rashidiyah, Al Wasl, Al Quoz and Dubai Investment Park.
“It will allow real-time responding for emergency cases,” said Khaldoon Al Daraji, first environment safety officer at the municipality.
“We’re in a good position except for the cases that are out of our hands, such as sandstorms.
“Sandstorms are our main concern because the UAE is just a receiver.
“The hotspots are Iran, Saudi Arabia and southern Iraq, but we’re working hard with the region to reduce the cycle of sandstorm generation.”
Mr Al Daraji said monitoring as it stood covered 47 per cent of Dubai.
There are 12 fixed stations in the emirate, but Dubai also receives information from monitors belonging to other entities.
“There are 25 stations in total,” Mr Al Daraji said.
“We added new technology and equipment used for the first time for the detection of heavy metals.
“A hundred parameters can be detected but we want to expand it to make sure that the data captured can allow a baseline study in some areas to ensure they are well positioned.”
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Label: Parlophone/Atlantic
Number of tracks: 10
Rating: 3/5
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