Alex MacDonald has become an integral part of Gillingham’s recent revival and all now seems good in the MacDonald household.

But that hasn’t always been the case since his arrival from Mansfield Town in August 2020. But after just seven games of last season, MacDonald’s season was over after suffering a bad injury.

Indeed, some questioned if he would play again when he was appointed caretaker manager with Steve Lovell following Steve Evans’ departure from Priestfield.

“It’s been tough” MacDonald conceded. “I’ll never forget how tough it was so that I’ll never take any game or training session for granted again! My love for the game is still there, if not more than what it always has been and yeah… it’s been a rough eighteen months.”

“The start of this season was hard as I wasn’t quite fit enough or sharp enough which wasn’t through a lack of trying or not through the lack of extras – I think it was more just needing to do it after being out for so long and my age, it took a long time – a lot longer than I anticipated, but touch wood now, I’ll stay injury free and be able to enjoy a couple of successful seasons.”

“It was tough – really frustrating! I think the reason I found it most frustrating was I got to a certain level (in the recovery) every time and then had a set back and then pushed through that only to have another setback.”

“The amount of times that I was in at Harley Street in London to see the specialist again, see the specialist again and see the specialist again, back under the knife… I’m on first name basis with my specialist and know them all, the receptionist, everybody!”

“They’re lovely people who work there,” MacDonald continued with a slight grimace, “but I hope that I never see them again!”

The likeable midfielder who is fast becoming a real fans favourite, is only too well aware of the “bounce” that a takeover can bring a club as he told us, “I’ve been involved in take-overs previously when I joined Oxford – I came in the January window – and so I’ve seen what it can do to a Club.”

“I think that Brad refers to it as a “sleeping giant” – I watched Oxford go from small sparce stands to filling up, going to Wembley, getting promoted, and played a part in it, so it’s something that I’m familiar with, something that I enjoyed incredibly and being part of something that’s not gone very well, to playing a huge part in turning a Club around and making people happy!”

“I think the take-over is only good; it’s a fantastic Football Club! Coming here as an away player I’ve seen the power that the stadium can hold and if we can, from now until the end of the season, pack Priestfield out, it’s only going to benefit everyone.”

“They’ve now got a team on the pitch that’s competing and has the quality to go and win games.”

“It was difficult, but as much as we weren’t scoring goals, you can just lay it at the feet of the lads at the top end of the pitch; we (the midfielders) feel as though we should have contributed a lot more from midfield.”

“But it’s just as frustrating in terms of if you go a goal down early on or don’t get the first goal, it could be a long ninety minutes. But that’s gone now and you cant affect that, we can only affect what’s in front of us.”

“Just go and have a look in the changing room and you know that there’s more than enough in there now for us to go and perform and get us out of this predicament that we’re in at the minute!”

“Sometimes when you get criticised as players, I think that you only listen to the three, four or five or however many it is who tell you that you’re not fit to wear the shirt – you only listen to that!”

“But when you go away to some places or even here at Priestfield, behind that there are hundreds of others supporting clapping you, you do forget the negative stuff you’ve heard walking off the pitch.”

“Our fanbase have been brilliant – I think that there was a real collectiveness when we played against Leicester after Brad and Shannon came in and ever since I’ve felt that the whole Football Club has changed – the momentum has changed, the swing of things has changed, the changing room and the performances changed and long may that continue.”

Picture supplied by Gillingham Football Club.