Fit-again Barrow AFC captain Josh Granite has admitted to being worried that his recent ankle injury would rule him out for the rest of the season.

Granite made his return for the Bluebirds’ first team in last Saturday’s 0-0 draw at Dagenham & Redbridge, which came three days after playing 70 minutes for the club’s under-21 team.

That run-out, against Lostock St Gerards at Holker Street, was the 27-year-old centre-back’s first match action since January 19 and his performance against the Daggers suggested he’s quickly shaken off any ring rust.

Granite is now raring to play in the final four games of what, for him, has been a stop-start campaign, which was also punctuated by a troublesome toe injury during the autumn.

Granite said: “I’d done something called an ‘ATFL’ (anterior talofibular ligament), where my ligament had come off the bone, so it was quite a nasty one.”

“I’ve worked very, very hard myself but the physios have been brilliant with me and it’s a credit to them that I’ve got back because when I did the injury, I was told I wouldn’t play again this season.

“It’s a credit to the club and the physios, and obviously I put in the work that they told me to do, so I’m delighted to be honest.

“I live for this and to be back out there helping the lads out on Saturday felt really, really good.”

Granite’s previous game for AFC had been against FC Halifax Town when he had to be replaced by Sam Hird, who he played alongside for the first time at Dagenham.

He was an unused sub at Chesterfield the following week, but manager Ian Evatt then had a prolonged period without being able to call upon his defensive and leadership qualities.

Granite said: “I actually did it the day before the Halifax game – I woke up on the day of the game and it felt really sore.

“I thought I could get through the game, but I couldn’t. I didn’t train the week after, it settled down and then the gaffer asked me if I could play and I said I probably can’t, at the Chesterfield game.

“But the squad was that thin, I went on the bench anyway, even though there was no chance of me coming on, and then I had a scan on the Monday after the Chesterfield game.

“I was told it would take up to three or four months for it to heal, so I’m delighted and obviously we’ve got four games left now, so we want to get 12 points and finish as high as we can and finish the season strong.

“It has been a good year - frustrating because we feel like we could have got a lot more points, but a very good year, in terms of where we’ve come from.”