United goalkeeper Ross Turnbull is hoping to put his injury nightmare behind him as he sets his sights on returning to the fold in time for pre-season.

Turnbull, a summer signing from Barnsley, featured just once during his debut campaign at Elland Road after suffering a broken ankle in a behind-closed-doors friendly last October.

The 31-year-old, who is under contract for another year at United, has since undergone two operations in an attempt to rectify the damage and is targeting a comeback this summer.

Turnbull admits it has been a testing past seven months on the sidelines, but the former Middlesbrough and Chelsea stopper has tried to remain upbeat throughout and now hopes to return stronger.

“Injuries are an unfortunate part of the life of being a footballer,” he said.

“That is just how it is. It is frustrating, there is no argument about that. But there is absolutely nothing you can do so you just get on with it.

“It tests your character and that is about the only thing you can affect. I told myself right at the start of all this, ‘Don’t mope around, don’t feel sorry for yourself’.

“It is why I have always tried to come into Thorp Arch with a smile on my face.

“There are tough days, of course there are. I’d be lying if I said otherwise and we all get frustrated from time to time.

“But things like this toughen you up. You have to overcome it and, hopefully, I'm doing that.

“I'm doing everything I can to get back fit. That is all you can do.”

Turnbull sustained the injury at Thorp Arch during the second international break of the season while featuring for a Leeds XI. The unfortunate break came during the type of incident most goalkeepers are faced with hundreds of times a season, in training or in matches.

“We were playing Manchester United in a friendly and it was a one-on-one,” he explained.

“He shot and I went to save it, but I managed to go over on my ankle. It was something and nothing really.

“Just the sort of incident that happens all the time in games, hundreds of times over a season. Usually, nothing comes of it.

“But, unfortunately, as I went over, I heard it crack, which is never a good sign. So I knew there was something up. I wasn’t in loads of pain or anything like that. But, clearly, everything was not right.

“I actually asked the physio to strap me up, saying I was okay. But he said ‘no’. I also didn’t want to be stretchered off. I wanted to walk off, that is just how I am. I didn’t want any fuss!

“In the end, they carried me off on one of the golf carts that the physios have and I then had a couple of days in hospital in Leeds, waiting for the swelling to go down.

“The match had been on a Tuesday or Wednesday but I didn’t have the operation until the Friday. I then came out of hospital on the Sunday.

“I have got nine screws in my ankle from the surgery. It was a fractured dislocation, where I also did all the ligaments around it. When the doctors looked at the x-rays, he said, ‘Well, you have done that good and proper’.

“I was in a cast for two weeks and then a protective boot for the next four to five weeks. Coming out of that, everything felt very stiff around the ankle.

“With it being such a bad fracture, that can be a problem. All sorts can stiffen up with that sort of injury and that is what happens. Then there’s the scar tissue.

“Anyway, after plenty of rehab, I went outside to see how it would stand up. But things just weren’t right. So, me and Steve (Megson, United’s head physio) went to see a specialist in London and within ten seconds he said I needed a second operation.

“The scar tissue needed sorting out. It wasn’t a big operation, which is why I wasn’t overly worried. It was more the frustration of being set back a bit.

“Having said that, I do think, deep down, I actually expected I’d need another operation. In a way, I had prepared myself for it so when the verdict came I wasn’t surprised, really.

“Now it is all about rehab. I need to be 100 per cent, not 80 per cent.”

Reflecting on a season which saw his only United outing come in August’s Capital One Cup tie away to Doncaster Rovers, Turnbull added: “It has been disappointing to play just once.

“I came in last summer hoping to make an impact.

“I wanted my debut to be something I could build on but then the injury came along. But it is what it is.

“There was nothing I could do. No preventative work or anything like that. It was just a freakish injury.

“Now, though, I want to look to next season. Put all this behind me and be ready to help out when we start again.

“Everyone has been brilliant with me, from the staff through to the lads. I have been to most of the home games.

“Being injured is a pain but the older you get the more you realise you can’t do anything about it - you just get on with things.

“That includes watching matches. I like coming in and giving the lads my support. Of course, I’d rather be out there but it is great just being around the lads and cheering them on.

“This is a really good group of lads. Everyone is very supportive. When I am in and around the lads, they have been great. Same when any of them have been in the treatment room.

“Gaetano Berardi worked closely with me when he was out injured. Then, when he got fit again, he said, ‘Some days, it was so tough...but I would just look across at Ross Turnbull and think, ‘He has had to do this every day’.

“That was nice thing to say, as it showed he understood. But things are getting there now. I am getting there, even if it is slowly. It has been frustrating and I had to have the second operation.

“I'm back in the gym now and spending time on the bike. It's all about building things up.

“I don’t think I've ever said before in my career that I'm looking forward to pre-season, but I am this year. If everything goes to plan, by the end of May I should be in a decent place.

“My rehab will be up to speed and then it will be a case of looking forward to getting in with all the lads again.

“I think I will be doing a couple of weeks and then, hopefully, everything will be ready for me to join in with everyone else.

“Then it’s a case of building things up, including fitness and things like that.”