DEEP down, Jack Rodwell knows. The Sunderland midfielder has achieved some notable things in his career, from making his senior Everton debut at the age of 16 to being part of the Manchester City squad that won the Premier League title in 2014, but many people’s first thought about him is a negative one.

In the eyes of many, he is a case of what might have been. A talent that once burned brightly, but which has been ravaged by the negative effects of a peripheral role at Manchester City and a succession of injury problems that continue to plague him today. Last month, even his manager, Sam Allardyce, was conceding he had become something of a “bit-part player”.

Rodwell can’t ignore that because it’s raised in every interview he has to conduct and there in every withering put down delivered by the pundits who cite him as salutary reminder of the dangers of having too much, too young.

He can’t do anything about his time at Manchester City now, a period that saw him make just seven league starts over the course of two years, but the suggestion that he is injury-prone is one that causes his hackles to rise.

He has struggled with injury, he wouldn’t attempt to deny that, but the notion that he is constantly being sidelined for months at a time is one he would dispute.

He returned from his latest absence as he made a substitute appearance in last weekend’s 3-1 defeat at Arsenal, and the tale of the week that preceded his outing at the Emirates says much about the lengths he is prepared to go to in an attempt to ensure his fitness.

Frustrated at the constant niggles that were causing him so much pain, Rodwell travelled to Germany to visit the world-renowned footballing specialist Hans-Muller Wohlfhart.

Wohlfahrt, a former club doctor at Bayern Munich, has worked with the likes of Michael Owen, Steven Gerrard and even Usain Bolt in the past, and while Rodwell’s problems tend to relate to his hamstrings, the German felt the root cause of the problem was an issue with the midfielder’s back.

Rodwell agreed to have a course of 50 injections over the course of four days, and while experience has taught him not to look too far into the future, the fact he was able to turn out at Arsenal provides cause for optimism in terms of his fitness for the remainder of the campaign.

“A couple of players have been (to see Wohlfhart), so the club doctor spoke to me about it and asked me if it was something I’d want to do,” said Rodwell, who is still just 24 despite having made his Premier League debut in 2008. “Basically, I’ve been getting these little niggles and when I was at Manchester City they’d probably have been five or six-week injuries, grade-two tears that would have meant I couldn’t walk for the next few days.

“It’s been better in the last couple of years because they’ve only been small, but I can still feel something when I’m sprinting, like a stabbing pain, and it’s a week or ten-day injury.

“They’re only small injuries, but we thought we could either do what we’ve been doing, treating it for seven days here and there, or we could go down another route and say that prevention is better than cure.

“I’ve been before in the past – four years ago when I was with Everton actually – and a couple of players said it worked for them, so I said, ‘Yeah, let’s go for it, nothing to lose’.

“He treats the back with injections and things like that. He settles all the muscles and nerves in the back because it isn’t necessarily the hamstring that’s the problem. He goes in with injections and it was something like 50-odd injections over four days. But it was worth it.”

If Wohlfhart’s work is effective, Rodwell should be able to add considerably to the 20 Premier League starts he has made since joining Sunderland in a much-trumpeted £10m move in August 2014.

As Allardyce quite rightly pointed out, Sunderland can’t afford to spend that kind of money lightly, and with Seb Larsson having been ruled out for a month and Lee Cattermole’s long-standing back problem continuing to give cause for concern, Rodwell’s return to action could hardly be more timely.

He is in contention for a starting spot in Saturday’s home game with Watford, and is determined to prove his worth to Allardyce after a string of frank discussions with the new Black Cats boss.

“Within the first week of him being here, he’d had a one-on-one with everyone and that’s good,” said Rodwell. “He’s done really well. He’s come in and got the place organised, and I think that’s showing on the pitch.

“This is a big season for me, and there’s still a lot of football to be played. Hopefully, I can stay fit and with Sam it’s a great opportunity for me. The Christmas period is always the toughest of the season, and hopefully I can get some games there.”

Whether he starts on Saturday remains to be seen, but with Watford in the top half of the table after recording back-to-back wins, there will be no complacency whoever Allardyce selects in his side.

“It’ll be a tough game,” said Rodwell. “They’re doing as well as they can at the moment in the Premier League, but we’re doing well too.

“Their away form is good, so we’re not going into this thinking this will be another easy three points. Going off our form, you might think so, but it’s not. We have to give it 100 per cent and hopefully do the job.”