'Easy to be forgotten about': Burnley's Aaron Ramsey reflects on his 13-month injury nightmare

Just as the season is coming to an intriguing end, the 22-year-old is closing in on a return to action after 13 agonising months on the sidelines.

The attacking midfielder hasn’t made a competitive appearance for the Clarets since suffering a serious knee injury against Arsenal in February 2024.

It appeared a fairly innocuous challenge at the time, but Ramsey knew – as soon as it happened – that it was a bad one.

“When I did it, because I screamed so loud I dislocated my jaw,” he told Burnley’s Keeping The Faith documentary.

“I just remember lying on my back and seeing raindrops dropping and knowing that I’ve done something bad.

“My knee was just painful and I went straight to hospital. I used the whole tank of gas and air, it was that painful.”

And so began the long road to recovery, from intensive gym sessions to hours with the physios and in the treatment room.

“It’s easy to be forgotten about when you’re not on the pitch, it’s tough for us guys that are injured,” Ramsey added.

“You are coming in to do stuff that gets you back to playing football, you’re doing gym, but that’s not football. It’s different when you cross that white line.

“I felt like I lost a purpose of what I was doing.”

In one respect, Ramsey is fortunate he was able to share his journey with others that were nursing long-term problems.

“When I was going through my injury, Jordan Beyer also had a knee injury. We had different injuries but we could kind of relate. That was good,” the former Aston Villa man explained.

“I also had Nathan Redmond. Everyone says he’s like my Dad now and he is, because I had him beside me the whole time during my rehab.

“He’s been so helpful for me, got me through so many days, so many bike sessions together. I do look at him like the Dad of the training ground, funnily enough.”

But it was also away from the training ground where Ramsey benefited from having such a strong support network around him.

“Whenever someone is going through an injury, I try and help out as much as I can because I know what they’re feeling and what it can be like,” Ramsey added.

“Some of them are on their own as well. I’m lucky I have a partner and my family here but some of them are just on their own. That would be 10 times harder.

“I’m very grateful I had my missus beside me 24/7.”

After spending over 400 days on the sidelines, the midfielder has since returned to Under-21 action, playing 45 minutes and 75 minutes across two outings this past week.

With six games to go after today’s outing to Coventry City, there’s still time for Ramsey to get back involved with the first-team – although Scott Parker is known for being extra careful with players returning from long-term absences.