Liam Cullen aiming to move on from injury frustration

Liam Cullen is ready to put his injury frustration behind him and has his sights set on regular game time for Swansea City this season.

The 22-year-old striker made 17 appearances in all competitions for the Swans last term, scoring three goals and featuring off the bench in the play-off final.

But there would surely have been many more outings for Cullen had it not been for an ankle injury suffered after scoring a brace against Nottingham Forest in the FA Cup.

The frustrating problem saw him miss three months, and the academy product is keen to avoid any repeat during the forthcoming season.

“I just want to play regular football,” he said.

“The injury did kill me a bit last season and I hope I can be as free of injury as I can be as to play as much as I can.

“I want to have a good pre-season, be as fit and ready as I can be to get those games under my belt.

“We’ve had a good first week at Pennyhill Park. Obviously it is an unbelievable facility and you can see why a number of teams use it.

“It was nice to see the boys again, to get back on the pitch and get down to work.

I obviously played a few games at the end of last season after injury, including the away leg of the play-off semi-final.

“It has just made me want to come back even more, I had a bit of rest and then got straight down to putting in some work before pre-season and I am raring to go.

“Games like that are the ones you want to play in. It was a massive experience, albeit one that ended in disappointment, but I am using that as motivation for the new campaign.”

Cullen also used the short off-season to recharge his batteries with a break away from the game, while he is also making progress on the golf course after opting to figure out the sport himself rather than having lessons.

“I had some time away, I got away to Portugal with two or three of my mates. It was nice to have a bit of downtime,” he adds.

“I managed to play a bit of golf as well, that’s been going well, my handicap has been going down although I don’t think it’s quite as low as Joel (Latibeaudiere) right now.

“That’s where I would like to get to, I’m a member of Pontardawe Golf Club, I used to live in digs up there and I know the club and the course there and it’s a good place to play.

“But the focus is now firmly on football and getting myself ready to try and have the best season I can.”