Former Gateshead youngster ready for the challenge after joining Spennymoor Town
Former Gateshead midfielder Connor Pani has signed a short-term deal with National League North club Spennymoor Town.
Former Gateshead youngster Connor Pani has revealed he is ‘looking forward to the challenges ahead’ and is ready to move on from an injury nightmare after taking the next step in his career.
The Heed academy product was in some of the best form of his young career when he suffered a ruptured Achilles tendon during the Tynesiders 3-1 home defeat against Boston United just over a year ago. Pani, who has featured in several positions during a five-year stay in and around the Gateshead senior setup, has undertaken a methodical and painstaking recovery process over the last 12 months and is now finally ready to return to action.
After initially keeping up his fitness levels in the gym before going through further stages of recovery over the following months, the 23-year-old has trained with Gateshead despite being out of contract and has now agreed a deal with National League North club Spennymoor Town. Pani has signed a short-term contract that will keep him with the Moors until the end of January and he will hope to do enough to earn an extended deal after becoming Peter Hartley’s second signing of the day.
Speaking before putting pen-to-paper, Pani reflected on his road to recovery as he told The Echo: “I’ve been building between gym work and contact training and I’m feeling good. I feel good mentally and it was a challenge when it first happened because it was a bit of a reality check for me. You realise you’re going to be out for a long time - but my mentality has completely changed. I’m looking forward to bouncing back, I’m looking forward to being a better player than I was before the injury, I’m looking forward to the challenges ahead. My confidence levels are sky high now because I’ve come through a serious injury that happened when I was playing well. It’s been a long road back and the first few months are about taking it in and letting it settle after the surgery. But from four months in I was in the gym, then got the green light for the bike and then kicked on from there. Now I’m ready to go and can’t wait to get going.”
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