Doncaster Rovers' May curious to see how Christmas Day training feels

Preparing for Boxing Day action this season will certainly be different for the 24-year-old, who continues his return from injury in tomorrow’s League One visit from Oldham Athletic.

“It is great to think where I am now 12 months on,” said May, who was in Ryman League Division One South – level eight of the English football pyramid.

“Back then, Monday to Friday I’d be up at half five in the morning. I was a carpenter – a timber framer – so I was on a building site most days.

“Sometimes you worked a Saturday morning before a game too. You didn’t eat the right foods because if you’re going to work on Saturday you’re having a builder’s breakfast. Then you’d have a couple bottles of water and know you have to go play.

“In non-league you can sort of get away with that, but now you prepare yourself well – chicken, pasta before a game. But you could have a proper Christmas dinner, and a glass of wine on Christmas Day, as you knew the weather would be terrible and your Boxing Day game would probably be called off.

“(Professionally) some teams train on Christmas Day. If we do do that it will certainly be different for me. I think I’ll enjoy going in to see what it is all like.”

May – who signed on January 1 – was sidelined for two months, but returned in last week’s 1-0 loss at Oxford and is looking forward to recapturing his best form during the busy festive period.

He said: “I was buzzing to get back. When I was first injured I was really down. I’d been in the team, starting and scoring as well. But they gave me a couple of days off after the injection just to clear my head and then the physios have been great.”