When Michael Woods suffered an horrific leg injury in February, he looked like being sidelined for a very long time. Instead, four months later he's ready to return and Sports Editor Nick Loughlin caught up with him during a rest break at Pool's pre-season Army boot camp at Catterick this week

LAS VEGAS: The entertainment capital of the world, full of glitz and glamour. Catterick Garrison: Where entertainment is in very short supply, glamorous it isn’t - but if it’s pain and honest graft you are after there’s no need to look any further.

For Michael Woods, the comparison is as stark as it is unbelievable and refreshing.

As February came to a close, the Hartlepool United attacker planned his summer. A trip to Vegas was freshly booked up, he had something to look forward to among the doom and gloom that was the League Two season.

There was every chance Woods would be heading Stateside as a non-league footballer. Pools were six points adrift at the bottom of the Football League and staring at footballing oblivion.

He didn’t get as far as applying for a Visa for America, let alone board a plane.

Almost an hour into Pools game with Wimbledon, Woods surged into the opposition penalty area.

Centre-half Dave Winfield lunged at him to knock the ball away for a corner. Woods went over, instantly signalling to the bench he was in a bad way.

He suffered a dislocated ankle and fractured fibula. Season over. Holiday cancelled. Hospital and the operating theatre beckoned that weekend.

But step forward four months and, somewhat astonishingly, Woods is back in action, his own resurrection as swift as that of Pools.

He has spent the week at Marne Barracks, Catterick Garrison with the rest of his team-mates, all the squad being pushed to the limits physically and mentally – to places where Woods has been in the recent weeks.

“It was hard for me watching the lads from afar – brutal. We were just starting to pick up some momentum and my season was over,’’ he reflected.

There was no pool parties in Vegas, but instead he watched on as Pools enjoyed a party of their own when they secured Football League survival.

“That Exeter game at the end was a real buzz – up there with my career highs. But the first few weeks were torture, laid up, watching Jeff Stelling every Saturday, you just want to be involved and be part of it. You feel helpless.

“It was a firm tackle, and my foot was planted when he’s taken the ball, my foot had nowhere to go when he came across me and my ankle dislocated, which was actually a good thing as it meant there was only one break and not two.

“Buster (Gallagher, physio) phoned the surgeon about a fortnight ago and he was told I would be able to start running soon – his reply was that I started running three weeks ago and I was going to army camp with the squad - so that raised a few eyebrows!

“Pre-season was an outside aim for me, I think the real aim was to be back training when the season actually started. I’m probably six to eight weeks ahead of where I should be, but that’s down to the staff here.

“I’ve not had a break – two holidays were cancelled. I booked Las Vegas the week before I broke my leg, so that was soon cancelled.

“But that’s what I’ve had to do and I just want to be part of it all again.’’

And, after plenty of personal tuition over the summer from the Pools’ physio team, Woods was ready to report at Maiden Castle for training with the rest of the squad.

They were soon reporting for duty at Marne Barracks at 0800 hours Monday morning.

“It was a killer on Tuesday morning- the 6.30 alarm was bad enough!’’ he quipped. “Breakfast at seven, kitted up, thrown in the back of a wagon, driven up the A1 and then we were unsure what we were in for.... a high assault course which was as hard as it looked.

“Monday was a slog, the last week in training was a slog, it’s in the heat and it’s all about physical exercise.

“You know when the season starts it’s in the bag, so it has it’s uses. I think this is my ninth full pre-season, this is the hardest I’ve ever done – mentally as well as physically. You are knacked, feeling it, and then you’ve got an army sergeant screaming in your face...

“It’s hard enough when you’ve got a team-mate screaming at you, or even the gaffer on the sidelines, never mind army staff.

“But we all know the benefits of it and even things like staying in the camp together, when we aren’t working all help. We are all in one dorm, one big block which is a great way for all the lads to blend in and get to know each other.

“Last season we were too quiet, some of the lads maybe coming towards the end were a bit frustrated and it showed. Now we have a good, young, hungry bunch of footballers.

“This season we are all pulling in the right direction. Looking from afar at other successful teams you know the team spirit will be massive and that’s what we have to find and generate.

“I think in a month’s time we will be talking about this week and in three or four months we can be using the things we have learned.’’

Tellingly, he added: “There’s no bad eggs in the squad at all.

“We’ve made a lot of new signings and added characters which is important. We have managed to get out business done early, which is always good.’’

Woods spent last summer on trial with Pools before Colin Cooper offered him a deal.

This year and Ronnie Moore has his work done early. A constant stream of transfers meant Pools have a new-look squad for the coming season.

Two of the recruits, however, are familiar to Woods.

Harry Worley and Carl Magnay arrived from Stevenage and Grimsby respectively. They were all teammates at Chelsea, regulars in the reserve side under then second-string boss Brendan Rodgers in 2008.

“We got Carl in early, who was player of the year at a team in Grimsby who reached the play-off final and were a successful team,’’ Woods said.

“We finished third bottom of the Football League last season, remember that and it could have worked against us in trying to sign players, but instead they see what we want to achieve and how we are going about it and people want to be part of it.

“I think Harry has that physical presence at the back which maybe we didn’t have last year.

“The gaffer has recruited in a lot of different areas. He now has options and last year if you saw the team sheet you pretty much could guess what was going on, but now it’s a different story.

“It’s exciting times here and the three of us have caught up quickly and had a good laugh doing a bit of reminiscing, but we spoke before they signed – asking what it was like here, what to expect, the sort of thing any player might do before signing for a new club.’’