David Bridges is a man on a mission. The crocked midfielder is determined to battle back from suffering medial knee ligament damage in time to play his part in a possible play-off semi-final should Boro make it into the top five. The normal recuperation

David Bridges is a man on a mission.

The crocked midfielder is determined to battle back from suffering medial knee ligament damage in time to play his part in a possible play-off semi-final should Boro make it into the top five.

The normal recuperation period for such an injury is six weeks but Bridges is undergoing intensive treatment at a top London clinic to speed up the healing process.

While any play-off semi-final first leg scheduled to take place on April 30 or May 1 could prove too big an ask of the 26-year-old, Bridges has targeted making himself available for the second leg.

He admitted he has been finding it difficult watching his team-mates from the sidelines recently but is using the frustration as a spur to aid his recovery.

"I was speaking to Lairdy (Scott Laird) and he was just saying how he can't wait for the run-in and these are the games that you really don't want to miss at this stage of the season," Bridges told The Comet. "It's obviously been difficult but the knee is coming along quite nicely and I'm getting a lot of mobility back into it.

"At the time the pain was pretty acute but I'm nearly back at being able to fully extend the leg.

"I'm starting to put weight on it and hopefully I can be off the crutches by the end of the week.

"We're looking into every treatment possible so I can get back as quickly as I can."

You could have perhaps forgiven the midfielder if a few selfish thoughts had flashed through his mind when his knee crumpled from beneath him under the challenge from Oxford 'keeper Billy Turley.

Bridges admitted last month how desperate he is to play at Wembley and the knee injury was clearly going to put that appearance in jeopardy.

But the player was more concerned about whether he had scored after the incident and was "gutted" to be told his goal had been ruled out for offside.

"Before I had even hit the floor I knew I had done something pretty serious," he added. "When I was getting on the stretcher I asked if I had scored and they said 'yes, but it didn't count' and I was gutted because it would have been worth it then!"

Oxford went on to salvage a draw but Boro have since clawed their way back into the top five and a possible play-off date.

And Bridges plans to be there.