Steve Cotterill has expressed his delight at the impressive transformation of George Nurse, the Cheltenham Town left-back, as he prepares for his first full season with the club “looking a million dollars”.
Nurse, 25, joined Cheltenham Town in January and featured in seven starts alongside seven appearances off the bench during the latter half of the previous season. His career had been hampered by two consecutive anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injuries sustained while playing for Shrewsbury Town, where Cotterill was previously his manager.
The Robins' manager believes Nurse is now at his fittest and most agile since those injuries. “It’s all about what George did in the off-season, before we even came back for pre-season,” said Cotterill. “He’s lost about 2kg and looks far better for it. I actually watched a clip from last season featuring a player against us, and George was in the clip. He’s unrecognisable from the George of last season, and that’s not just down to his new haircut and flowing locks!”
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Cotterill went on to explain that Nurse has significantly reduced his body fat and improved his overall fitness, crediting his hard work during the summer. “At the moment he looks a million dollars,” he added.
Reflecting on Nurse’s rehabilitation, Cotterill noted, “When you do your ACL, you end up living in the gym, and that’s what he’s done, adding loads of bulk and not being able to move. He couldn’t run as quick as I wanted him to. I don’t think he’s looked like this for a couple of years now. He’s done great and he’s definitely one of the plusses from pre-season.”
“We have perhaps now got back the George Nurse I knew I was signing. It was always going to take time to get him to where I felt we could,” Cotterill concluded.
Looking ahead, Cheltenham Town are set to face Championship side Charlton Athletic in the first round of the Carabao Cup on Saturday, with kick-off at 5.30pm. They will then begin their League Two campaign at home against Rotherham United a week later, with a 3pm kick-off.