Aston Villa full-back Wilfred Bouma has dismissed speculation he is about to retire and insists he is "progressing well" after 11 months out of action.
Left-back Bouma missed the entire domestic season after dislocating an ankle during an Intertoto Cup clash with BK Odense at Villa Park last July.
The Dutch international played a trio of reserve games at the tail-end of the season only to suffer a reaction which required keyhole surgery. But Bouma is adamant his career is not over and he is stepping up his rehabilitation programme.
He said: "I have been doing rehab work for two weeks now and things are going really great. To read stories with that sort of speculation, that I am finishing, is really frustrating because it's progressing well.
"I have had a lot of calls, even from my friends in Holland, asking me about the stories. When people read things like this, some believe them."
Bouma added: "I have to build up slowly now, with some walking and general strengthening, and I hope to start jogging during pre-season. I don't want to rush back. It's got to be right but it's looking good and I'm in good spirits."
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Wilfred will be back during next season and will play a vital role for our club so lets all support him. If he does have a setback then so be it but right now he's a valued member of our club. think of what happened to Eduardo and the goals he scored when he returned from a worse injury!!!
If this injury is taking so long to right itself surely even if Bouma does make a come back sometime next season it is only a matter of time before a relapse great loss cos he was a good player but we need to move on !!!
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