Norwich City: Andrew Omobamidele reflects on injury troubles

The towering Irish defender was praying to the footballing gods that his body would hold up after an extensive period sidelined through a back injury. 

It robbed him of Premier League appearances and an experience that would have been critical to his development. Dean Smith left Norwich frustrated that he didn't have the 20-year-old at his disposal for a consistent period during his time as head coach. 

Inside Colney, Omobamidele is often compared to a Rolls Royce - his qualities mean he has a high ceiling that many expect him to fulfil in a lengthy career in the game. 

Despite his age and the fact he has played just 44 matches for Norwich, he is considered a first-team option. The challenge is to continue to stake his case between now and the end of the campaign. 

Premier League interest from Leicester and others hasn't come as a surprise - but a few months ago it felt a long way away for the Republic of Ireland international. 

A back injury left him with a watching brief for the second half of City's dire top-flight campaign. Deadlines were set and missed; his frustration grew. 

After such a bright start to his career, Omobamidele had stalled just as he was beginning to find his stride. 

That is why July's pre-season friendly against King's Lynn Town marked such an important moment for the youngster. 

"I think we played King's Lynn away in a friendly. I was starting that game and I was proper nervous. I was going over it in my head 'what's going to happen with my back?' and stuff like that.

"I think it was just a couple of passes and stuff you take for granted when you're playing football, stepping up with the line, being with your back four. After I just kind of forgot about it," Omobamidele reflected.

"I remember coming in with the boys at half-time and they were saying 'How's your back?' and I was like 'It's gone, I don't feel it'. That was probably the moment.

"I'm all good. I feel good. I'm just happy to be back here. I think it's been a year and a half and I'm just happy to be back."

Since that day, Omobamidele has played 27 Championship matches and has now been recalled to the Ireland squad for his first international camp since 2021. 

Despite a recent setback at domestic level, Omobamidele has been available for the majority of City's Championship campaign and is now playing free from pain. 

"That was the first time in my whole career that I was out for more than a month. Six months is a long time," he said.

"I had to ease myself back in and I was a bit anxious because you do everything with your back but I got a lot of confidence from those first few weeks when I got no pain.

"At the time, the physios gave me a plan to get back and I was back on time."

Omobamidele's appearance for his country in last week's friendly victory over Latvia was his first since November 21. 

Andrew Omobamidele has admitted to nerves before Norwich City's pre-season friendly against King's Lynn. (Image: Paul Chesterton/Focus Images Ltd)

Stephen Kenny, Ireland's boss, has been tasked with nurturing an exciting group of talent that is coming through, including City duo Omobamidele and Adam Idah. 

But with talent coming through the system comes competition - something the City defender is aiming to utilise to push his game further forward. 

“That’s just football," Omobamidele said. "It’s great for us to have so many good players in each position. That’s only going to get the best out of us.

"For me at centre-back, we have so many good young players in this position, so to have boys like Nathan, Dara O’Shea, boys like that, it’s only going to make you better in training and wanting to almost fight each other to get a starting place.

"Whoever does get it is going to perform, if that makes sense.

"It's a massive privilege to play for Ireland so if I can be involved in any of the games that would be great, especially on my return.

“When the draw came out, obviously when we saw the teams in there, I was more excited than anything. It’s perfect to test yourself personally and as a team against these top nations. I am more just excited to see how it’s going to go.”

Ireland are preparing to kickstart their European Championship's qualification campaign against World Cup runners up France on Monday at the Aviva Stadium. 

Andrew Omobamidele has linked up with his country for the first time since November 2021. (Image: PA Images)

They share the group with Greece, the Netherlands and Gibraltar, with the hope of making their first major tournament since Euro 2016. 

Despite a tough-looking group on paper, Omobamidele is excited to test himself against some elite countries - starting with France - and believes the team can lean on positive recent experiences against Portugal and Serbia ahead of this encounter. 

“100 percent, we need to take reference off that, we know they are a top country, back-to-back World Cup finals," he said.

"When we get out to the Aviva it's 11 v 11, anything can happen. The games against Portugal and Serbia, these top teams but they can give us confidence going into the game."