TERANG Mortlake defender Chris Baxter wants to return to his best form after off-season surgery.
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The former Hampden interleague representative had both feet operated on in October after injury forced him to end his 2018 season prematurely.
Baxter, 27, started running in January and is now completing the Bloods' full pre-season program.
He will miss the Bloods' first two games, starting with Camperdown at Leura Oval in round one, due to a month-long overseas holiday.
But the Ellerslie farmer, who flies out to America on Thursday, hopes to play after Easter.
"I am back full training. I pull up a little bit sore but it's just getting better all the time," Baxter said.
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Baxter had a bone spur in his left foot and a floating bone in his right foot, which also had cartilage damage.
He decided to have surgery after he started to feel "like a witch's hat" on the football field.
"I didn't do anything for 10 days, laid on my back and watched TV for 10 days and then slowly got around not doing too much for about a month," he said of the procedure.
"If I got up I'd have to move like a turtle with crutches. I got waited on hand and foot for 10 days."
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Baxter said he was cautious with his rehabilitation.
"I went back and got a check up and the doctor said 'you're right to run'," he said.
"I had good movement and he said 'just take it easy'.
"I'd jog for a minute and walk for four minutes and I did that for a week or two and then did two minutes' running and three minutes' walking and worked up.
"The left foot restricted me at the start of last year. I had a bone spur but it wasn't the issue."
Baxter nows feels confident in his body and hopes to slot into the Bloods' best 21 when he returns.
"I'll slide back into defence hopefully, if I get a game," he said.
"But we might have to wait and see, I might have to do my dues in the twos for a couple of weeks when I get back.
"But that's OK. Whatever 'Sarge' (coach Michael Sargeant) reckons I'll be no worries with."
"We've lost a few players but Jordie (McKenzie) is coming on as assistant coach with a few new ideas and we still have a good young core and experienced blokes like Nick Couch, Steve Staunton and Ryan O'Connor and Jarryd Hay is still as keen as mustard.
"Our back line has been pretty settled for the last few years and I reckon it will be pretty similar with Ryan (O'Connor), Harry Hobbs, Tom McKenzie and we might get a few new faces like Daniel Kenna.
"He played a few good games last year at the end of the year and Joe Arundell too and we've got the ever-reliable Joel Crawley kicking out from full-back."
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