Out of contract Shots defender Anthony Charles has had an operation on his injured knee and will now begin a period of rest before setting off on the road to regaining his fitness.
The defender, who has been the clubs captain for the last 18 months, snapped the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee in the dying minutes of last season, in the Shots’ 3-0 win at Lincoln and is now without a club given that his contract has come to an end.
The operation, which took place at The Princess Margaret Hospital in Windsor spoke to Charlie Oliver this week and told him that everything went to plan.
“I’ve just spoken to the surgeon,” Charles said. “He said it all went fine. Apparently these days it’s quite a straightforward operation.
“Now I need to rest and then start strengthening my thigh and hamstring. The next couple of weeks are very important.”
There is generally a long road back to fitness following this type of injury but the player concluded by saying that he hoped to be back playing by this Christmas.
Whether he will be playing in an Aldershot Town shirt is another matter. Given that he is out of contract at the end of June, and had been tipped to be moving on to a bigger club following a solid season, the injury couldn't have happened at a worse time.
After a fine season, in which he was increasingly authoritative at the back and showed an eye for goal at the other end, Charles was tipped to leave Aldershot and win an improved contract elsewhere.
The club has an obligation to help Charles however, due to the injury occurring while he was playing for the club but the player has said that he hasn't heard anything "official" from the club since the injury, although manager Dean Holdsworth has kept in touch with him.
It is understood that the Professional Footballers Association are talking to Aldershot, on Charles’ behalf, and a club statement is expected shortly, presumably once the month is out.
It is a difficult situation for Aldershot — but far worse for Charles.
“It was the last minute, of the last game of the season,” Charles said. “There wasn’t any contact, I just turned awkwardly. There is never a good time to get injured but this was especially bad.”