Hull City v Nottingham Forest: Will Keane out to make up for lost time with Tigers

Some brief illumination did mercifully arrive in the sight of Will Keane making his comeback after a second spell of injury purgatory in his career and there was even time for a relieving spot of banter along the way too for Hull’s squad.

Given the Tigers’ present predicament, sometimes it is better to laugh or else you might cry continually.

As someone who has had to contend with two potentially career-threatening knee injuries, despite only just turning 25, Keane, thankfully, possesses a sense of humour.

The moment of mirth arrived on the coach trip up to Sunderland ahead of the Tigers’ Championship fixture when Keane’s team-mates brazenly asked him to sing a song of initiation – traditionally the preserve of new signings when they arrive at the club.

Keane may have moved to East Yorkshire back in August 2016, but he got the joke, given that the vast majority of his team-mates have never previously played with him in a competitive fixture.

Keane, whose appearance on Wearside was his first in the amber and black since suffering the second significant cruciate ligament injury of his career, which occurred in a Premier League game against Southampton in November 2016, said: “The lads tried to make me sing at the weekend, on the away trip. They said I was a new signing and I said, ‘No, I am not a new signing, I did that last year when I joined’. I wangled my way out of it.

“But the lads have all welcomed me back in and they were buzzing for me after the game, saying, ‘well done, it is great to see you back’ and stuff and it is nice to feel that from the players. I just want to help the team now.”

Given what he has had to contend with so far in a career that has not exactly gone to plan after suffering his first serious cruciate injury while playing for England Under-19s in May 2012, the fact that Keane has retained a sense of humour given some tough times is admirable.

Much has certainly changed on and off the pitch for Keane – rated as a teenage prodigy and tipped by several experts to be the next big thing during his formative years at Manchester United – since he previously donned a Hull City shirt 14 and a half months ago.

Last season’s line-up has been comprehensively dismantled, while fatherhood has provided Keane with a new outlook and focus too.

His young family, including baby son Heath, will hopefully be present this afternoon when the Stockport-born player aims to cement the next major building block in his ascent back to a first-team regular and while the FA Cup might not be Hull’s overwhelming focus this season, today’s game has plenty of potential symbolism.

On what promises to be a special family occasion, Keane, eyeing his first start for the club since that grim November afternoon in 2016, said: “My baby son has got a kit, but I think it will be a bit too big for him at the minute.

“Hopefully, my family are coming to support me at the match, but I slept in my own room last night.

“My partner has been based back in Manchester and I have been up here in the week and getting plenty of sleep on my own. She has had family back looking after her.”

Admitting that the passage of time, an added sense of maturity and his previous experience of dealing with a serious knee injury has made his road to recovery, second time around, slightly less hazardous, Keane added: “I am a bit more mature now and have been through the experience before.

“I sort of knew what it entailed and I think it definitely has helped.

“I have just had a son a couple of months ago and that has given me a good focus off the pitch and something to strive towards and make me want to be better.

“I think fatherhood does change you, yes. It is quite a unique experience first time and an amazing feeling.

“Now I have come back and you want to do it for your family, don’t you?

“Hopefully, I can have a good stint of time injury-free now and show everyone what I am about.”

Alongside his family, a special group of team-mates who he has probably seen too much of than he would care to mention this season have also been invigorated by his first-team comeback, with his exploits also giving inspiration to them in their quest to banish their own demons.

During his lengthy injury absence, Keane has had plenty of company during his stint in the treatment room, with the likes of Moses Odubajo and Ryan Mason having also had it tough in that respect with a pain shared being a pain divided.

Keane, ready to start if called upon today against Forest, added: “Mo has been a big pal and doing good and I have done a lot of outdoor stuff with Mase and it has been great to work with him.

“When you start back outside, it is really hard for the first couple of weeks especially.

“It is physically demanding, so if you are doing it with a couple of lads it is nice to ease your way back in and feed off them and also give you a bit more of a rest between circuits.

“They have all been a big help.

“They have been saying how good it is to see me back and it gives them hope as well. They know I have been through a long injury spell and hopefully a couple of those lads are only a few months off now.

“Once you get back outside, starting the work, that is when you can see light at the end of the tunnel and I think most of the lads are pretty much there now, which is good.”