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EX-Super Eagles ace, Osaze Peter Odemwingie has been getting useful support from Eddie Niedzwiecki as he stakes a claim for a first competitive start since suffering knee ligament damage. Odemwingie suffered the worst injury of his career when he pulled up during Stoke's 1-0 win at Manchester City last August, rupturing the cruciate ligament, medial collateral ligament and meniscus in his left knee. It has been a tough and slow road back but he started both of Stoke's games in Singapore last week and is expected to feature today at Brentford, firmly back in Mark Hughes's first team plans. But it has not been easy and Niedzwiecki knew that would be the case from experience. "With this injury you can go two or three weeks going well and taking a step forward but then get knocked back," said Odemwingie. "You go, have a little problem, then go again to the next stage. People told me it was like that. "Our coach Eddie had the same injury when he was playing and he said it is always two steps forward, one back. I know what he means now. "I'm fine now. I am still looking at my heart rate. When you go eight months without playing your metabolism changes. "You make an effort that before took you just a few seconds to recover but at the end of last season I felt like I was struggling to recover. "Now I feel better. I'm happy the trip to Singapore helped boost my heart rate even higher. That's all I need." Odemwingie enjoyed training and playing in the heat and humidity of South East Asia when even some of the fans were struggling with such conditions. "The mornings were hard and hot and I think they're excellent for your physical condition," he said. "It speeds up the fitness programme. A few players only arrived on July 11 and they've already played almost 90 minutes. They looked sharp and fit. "I've played in conditions like that before at the Olympics in China, the African Nations and qualifiers in Africa and then the World Cup in Brazil was very humid as well. "It can be tough but there is something special about that kind of weather. There is a line you go through and once you pass that barrier you feel good and you can keep going. "First it's a bit scary because it's so different but when you're all wet you can play normally."
