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"I definitely believe we can beat Wasps"

Fighting talk from Andrew Sheridan

Thursday, March 18th 2010

Watching from the sidelines, nursing two shoulder reconstructions, prop Andrew Sheridan shed some light on Sale Sharks’ fall to the bottom of the Guinness Premiership.

The friendly giant, weighing 19st and towering at 6ft 5in, confessed, “We have a good all round squad, it’s just when you’re down at the bottom of the league and you’re not winning games, confidence gets hit. Hopefully if we can get a win tonight, it will act as a catalyst and the players will start responding to it. Normally with a win, players get more confidence and they play to their top of their potential.”

“Obviously the position that Sale are in is very difficult, but everyone is working really hard to try and pick up some points so that we can get off the foot of the table and start getting up the league.”

Looking ahead to the crucial match that could lift Sharks from the bottom of the table against Wasps tonight, Andrew is certain the team can get a home win. “I definitely believe we can beat Wasps,” Andrew said. “They’ve been working really hard at training this week. I’ve been involved in a few of the sessions and a lot of work has gone into it. Hopefully if we start well on Friday, get some good confidence, have 100% commitment and really go for it, we can win.”

With 142 Guinness Premiership appearances and 32 caps under his belt, Andrew was a key player in the Sale Sharks squad at the start of the season. “I do get frustrated not being able to play for the team now because it’s been four months since I had the operations. When I first got injuried I was fine; I had two knackered shoulders and I just wasn’t really a rugby player, I was just trying to recover from operations.

“Now, I’m getting better. Obviously I can tell I’m nowhere near right, but just the fact that I’ve progressed so much during the recovery period, I feel more like I can play rugby again so of course there is more frustration when I watch.”

Talking about his injury Andrew said, “It wasn’t just a straight forward dislocation. Once they scanned it, they found that there was widespread damage of the shoulder. It was a full reconstruction and major operation; four hours to reconstruct all the torn ligaments and tendons.

“I have also had a few niggles in my right shoulder over the last two years so they had a look at that at the same time and found a major rotator cuff tear as well as some bone damage. So after the first operation I had another reconstruction job on the right shoulder.”

These injuries have meant Andrew has had to miss out on most of Sale Sharks’ 2009/10 season, as well as the 2009 Autumn Internationals and 2010 RBS Six Nations. When asked if he was disappointed, Andrew said, “I’m quite realistic really. It was a major injury and it needed a big operation on. It will take a time to heal. Hopefully I will come back for Sale Sharks’ pre-season games stronger and better than before which will be good.”

Help create a real home field advantage at Edgeley Park and support Sale Sharks against London Wasps tonight (Friday 19th March), kick off 7.45pm. Tickets start at £10 for Adults and £4 for Kids. Book your tickets ONLINE NOW or call the Ticket Office on 08444 994 994.