Arsenal winger Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain has revealed the extent of the injury troubles that he has been suffering from for the last two years of his career.
The England international has been plagued by fitness issues since injuring his knee on the opening day of the 2013-14 season at Aston Villa, and he said that he has been experiencing problems as a consequence ever since.
He told The Mirror: "It has all been a chain reaction from that injury against Villa, from being out for five or six months for the first time in your life. That injury did change my body slightly, it changed the way my muscles and body reacted to playing as many games as we play.
"I have never been out, not playing and not running around for that long. [With] your knee in a brace, your balance can shift, start loading more one side than the other, and that's when the muscle problems keep creeping in.
"I struggled with that for a large part of last season. There were times when I tried to get up from the bed, or from sitting on the sofa and I was in so much pain."
The 23-year-old appears to have returned to full fitness this season, having scored the winner in the Community Shield against Chelsea and played in all four of Arsenal's Premier League games so far, and he is in the England squad for the trip to San Marino tomorrow.
Tom Nightingale
