MY ACCOUNT
Jack, thanks for talking to us! Unfortunately, you have been sidelined since September with quite a nasty injury. Could you tell us a bit more about the issue and how it happened?
It was quite a strange one really. We were away at Manchester City and playing really well, just approaching half-time.
I kind of overstretched when going for the ball and as my foot planted, I felt something pop in the back of my leg.
I initially tried to run it off but after a couple of minutes I had to put the ball out and sit down.
To be honest, I thought it was an issue with my knee but it has turned out to be damage to the tendons in my hamstring.
It can still be a pretty nasty injury but thankfully it wasn’t ruptured, so I haven’t needed surgery.
What sort of activities has your recovery comprised of then?
For the first 10 days or so, the doctors advised me to let the swelling to go down, so I had some time off to see family and stuff. But from there, I have really tried to attack it.
I was mainly doing bike sessions, swimming, upper body stuff at first — but then after a few weeks I was able to start doing leg sessions in the gym. That’s been brilliant!
During the season, when you’re playing week in, week out, you don’t really get the time to do that, bizarrely. You have to manage your workload very carefully alongside training.
In the last 10 days or so, I have been able to get back on the grass. Putting my boots on for the first time was a nice feeling.
How do you find working under Ralph Hasenhuttl? He seems like a real character from what we get to see of him in his interviews!
The gaffer is very intense! He’s the type of manager who likes to be involved in all the different elements and have an understanding of them, to ensure that everything is working to its maximum capacity.
He is bang into video analysis, which is something I find really interesting too.
We look at how other teams play, break down our training sessions. He’ll actually take a lot of the training sessions himself, too.
Overall, he’s someone who is extremely passionate about the job and has kept believing in the project.
We’ve had some heavy defeats but we all stuck together as a group and they have genuinely made us stronger in the long run.
Who has been the team-mate that has impressed you the most in your career?
Well, Virgil van Dijk always looked like he was going to go right to the top. Everything was just so easy for him.
I was on the bench and in the stands a lot in that season, so I had a first-hand view of him. He barely got out of second gear in most games — it was scary!
The game that stands out for me was when we played Everton. He was coming up against Romelu Lukaku and everyone was building it up as a huge battle, but Virgil just pushed him around.
He’s an absolute unit of a man and it’s just so natural for him so to see what he’s gone and done at Liverpool was not at all surprising.
On a similar theme, which opponent has been the toughest to mark?
I’d probably have to say Eden Hazard when he was at Chelsea. We had a few injuries a few years back and I played right-back against him at Stamford Bridge. That was a long afternoon.
Him, Pedro and Willian were just interchanging and moving all over the place. It was carnage! He glides past you so effortlessly, I couldn’t wait for the full-time whistle, to be honest.
You have seen plenty of highs and lows during your time with the club. What are your happiest memories from your spell on the South Coast to date?
There’s been a few! Making my debut at Everton was one of those bittersweet ones where I’ll never forget it, even though we ended up losing 3-0.
But that first season as a whole when I was given my chance by Claude Puel was amazing.
Van Dijk got a bad injury and the boss threw me in with next to no experience. He stuck by me and I ended up playing in some huge games.
I played at Liverpool away in the League Cup semi-final second leg, when we won 1-0 at Anfield.
Then to play in the final against Manchester United, which we lost to a late Zlatan Ibrahimovic goal, was absolutely heart-wrenching — but also amazing.
To start a cup final at Wembley at the age of 23 just blew me away.
Do you see yourself staying at Southampton for the rest of your career?
It would be some achievement to effectively be a one-club man in the modern era!
Obviously you never really know what the future holds in football and I don’t like to look too far ahead — but I love it here.
I’m really happy at the club, so there is certainly no intention for me to look elsewhere.
Maybe a stint back at my old club Plymouth before my career is finished would be nice but we’ll have to see.
What do you do to keep yourself busy during a stint on the sidelines?
When I’m not playing, I absolutely love watching sport. I’m not fussy!
The T20 World Cup cricket has been on the last couple of weeks, so I’ve been taking in plenty of that.
I like my darts too and there’s been plenty of tournaments on in recent weeks. I’m never short of something to watch.
Aside from sport though, I also play the guitar. It’s been a big favourite of mine and I still have the odd lesson every now and then.
Can we expect to see you forming a band when you finally hang up your playing boots then?
I wouldn’t go that far! To be fair, there was a bit of talk of us sorting out a band between the first-team squad at one stage.
Shane Long is absolutely amazing on the guitar, so he would definitely be the lead in that respect. As for vocals, it would probably be Longy too.
Thinking about it, it would probably be more of a one-man show. Maybe I could carry his guitars for him!
Finally, have you got a date or a game in mind for when you hope to return?
I have — it might be a slightly different one to what the physios are thinking, though!
Seriously, there is a game that I would like to be available for selection. That is my private target that I’m working towards.
The team are going really well, so just to be in the mix and available would be a good start.
Things get really busy during the December period in terms of fixtures, so hopefully some rotation will give me a chance to get myself back in the team and I can nail down that starting spot again.
Jack Stephens was speaking to LiveScore’s Matthew Hill
