New Stirling Albion relishes pre-season after painstaking recovery from knee injury

A brutal pre-season can often send shivers down the spine of footballers ... but Stirling Albion new boy Sam Denham is relishing every moment after coming back from a devastating knee injury.

The 21-year-old defender came through the ranks at Celtic before moving to St Johnstone before heading out on loan to Edinburgh City and Cowdenbeath.

Strong displays of his potential attracted the attention of East Fife, who snapped up the young centre-back before the 22/23 campaign.

A promising campaign saw him rack up more than 30 appearances for the Fifers on their way to the League Two play-offs - but it was all to be cut short after Denham picked an ACL injury in the semi-final second leg against Clyde,

It put him on the shelf for nine months, with East Fife fans crowdfunding to help pay for the surgery.

The injury kept him out for the whole of last season - but he is now hoping for a restart with his former youth team boss at St Johnstone, Alan Maybury, as the Irishman pulls together his Stirling squad for this season.

Denham made an assured debut against Broxburn in the Binos’ 1-1 draw last weekend and will be able to build up the fitness with another good showing against Queen of the South tomorrow.

Speaking to the Observer, Denham said: “It’s been good in pre-season so far, it’s been tough and with myself being out for a long time personally, it’s just been great getting back into full training and on the grass.

“There were a few reasons why I decided to come to Stirling; it was a great opportunity for myself and it’s a great club which provides me the chance to get back in the leagues and get some game time under my belt.

“I worked under the manager at St Johnstone so that was another factor which played a part in the