They say being a goalkeeper is the loneliest position on a football team, but you get the feeling Guglielmo Vicario would perhaps now say a place in the treatment room takes some beating.

Being between the sticks, it would be fair to say a goalkeeper is often isolated in a match, especially when their team is in possession and on the front foot. And there is certainly no hiding when it comes to the decisions they make. It can be lonesome life.

Yet, when a player is out injured, that loneliness is just intensified as they move away from their team-mates to focus on an personal battle with a long road of recovery.

In fracturing his foot back in November to the surprise of just about everyone, 'Vic' was dealt the cards of a significant injury of the first time in his career. A chest injury had kept him out of seven games for former club Empoli at the end of the 2022/23 campaign, but now he faced three months out of action.

A passionate athlete and a leader within the group, the frustration of having to sit by and watch his team-mates train and then play 21 games without of him must have been torment, especially with him powerless to have an effect.

All he could focus on was his personal battle, taking on that long road to recovery, putting his efforts into the individual work in rehabilitation, strength, conditioning and fitness - and it is in that solo struggle where players can feel the most alone.

Yet, despite the struggles and the difficulties of that setback, Spurs' number one actually reflects on it as an exciting time in which he could put his mind to a new challenge. And he has worked tirelessly to get back. He's done so ahead of schedule and now he can't wait to get back on the pitch and back with the lads!

Speaking to Spursofficial on Friday, the goalkeeper began by giving an insight into the moment he learned that he had actually fractured his foot, despite having completed the full 90 minutes in November's 4-0 win over Manchester City.

"To be fair, it was a big surprise," he disclosed. "I never thought about a fracture. I thought maybe it was a twist. But then, when I had the scan and we looked into the images, I spoke to the medical staff and they told me it would be a long injury.

"At the first stage, you have to realise what happened to you and then you have to calm down a bit, to concentrate because it's a long journey. It’s been a big setback but, of course, like every setback, you have to handle it, you have to deal with it, as I did.

“It’s been a long journey, a long process to believe in and get through but it’s been, of course, an exciting part of my life, a different chapter, putting in a lot of hard work but, at the end, you can get your rewards and also relief to stay focused on a big journey like the one I was on. So another moment of pride about myself.

“I’m very, very happy. I worked a lot so now I’m very confident. I’m very happy to be back. Just like all the feelings I had when I was fit, when I played a lot of games, just big excitement. This is everything I’ve worked for. Now it’s time to do things properly and seriously because the games are coming. I’m very excited and I can't wait to be back with the lads."