I CAN’T tell you how happy I am to see Joey O’Brien back in action and out on loan at Sheffield Wednesday.

Injuries are part and parcel of football, unfortunately, but this kid must have been to hell and back over the last few years.

It’s been one thing on top of another . . . each time he thought he could see the light at the end of the tunnel, he suffered another body blow.

Take it from me, there’s nothing gets a player more depressed than a long spell on the injury list. Full marks to Joey for keeping his chin up.

The longest I ever had on the sidelines was six months – and a good part of that was over the summer – but it was agonising not feeling part of things.

You’d see your team-mates during the week but you’d be working on your own in the gym, with just the physio for company, and you didn’t have a game to look forward to at the end of it all.

You’re in limbo and it’s horrible. You just don’t feel part of it.

Joey must be feeling on top of the world being involved again.

It’s not that clubs don’t treat you well when you are on the sidelines. They do, and I recall getting a lot of help both from Bolton and from Everton when I was laid up.

Our daughter, Rebecca, had just been born and we went living with my missus Karen’s mum which was just a mile from Everton’s Bellefield training ground. Howard Kendall, who was then Everton’s manager, kindly let me go in there instead of coming into Bolton every day and I was able to work with an old mate of mine, Les Helme. He got me fit – in fact, when I came back after the injury I was just 12st 10lbs – lighter than I’d ever been. So light, in fact, that I lost a lot of my strength and Bruce Rioch ordered me to go away and put an extra six pounds on to get me back to my best weight.

Imagine that, a manager telling Tony Kelly to put weight on!

We didn’t have all the dieticians and nutritionists to help us in those days. Just the manager, the coach and the physio.

In fact it frightens me to think how players of my ilk might have benefited from all the sports science that is available these days.You still have to have the will power and the dedication, but when there’s so much expertise at a player’s disposal, they’ve got all the help they need to ensure they are in peak physical condition.

I’m sure that’s the case now with Joey O’Brien, as it is with Ricardo Gardner and Jlloyd Samuel, who have also had their injury problems and who, thanks to the loan system, have been given a chance to get some much-needed competitive football under their belts.

And it’s not a question of them being farmed out. I’d be gobsmacked if Owen Coyle did not have them watched in every game they play.

They know there are contracts to be earned and loans like these are win-win situations for all concerned.

LOSING Stu Holden has been a bitter blow, for the lad himself and for the team. But let’s not make too much of a drama out of it.

One player, however influential, does not make a team and I’m sure Owen Coyle won’t be gnashing his teeth and losing sleep about having to play out the rest of the season without Stu in his midfield.

He’s a manager who knows all about working with the players he’s got and that is precisely what he will be doing now.

Putting a positive spin on it, Stu’s injury presents someone else with an opportunity to make his mark.

I’m not trying to pick Owen’s team for him – I wouldn’t even dare – but this could be a chance for Mark Davies to step up to the plate.

I know he’s had his ankle problem and had to pull out of the England Under-21s squad, but the international break has given him and other players a chance to get a breather and focus on the rest of the season.

I must say, I’ve always considered international breaks a bit of nuisance but on this occasion it could be to our advantage because it’s come at just the right time.

The gaffer will make sure everyone is fit and focused on Saturday’s game at Birmingham – and definitely not being distracted by thoughts of the FA Cup semi-final.

The league’s the bread and butter and the only objective this week is to make sure we collect three points at St Andrews.

THERE is always the danger that expectation can weigh heavily on a young footballer’s shoulders, but I can say with a good measure of confidence that won’t happen with Jack Wilshere.

He is still a kid, of course, but he is such a level-headed character that his head won’t be turned by success. He knows where he is at and he knows where he is going in life – a very mature 19-year-old.

We saw again at the weekend –- this time in an England shirt –- that he is one of the game’s brightest midfield prospects. He is being tipped to be an England regular for many years to come and I would go along with that.

The first time I saw him I could see he was international quality.

No wonder Owen Coyle jumped at the chance to bring him up here on loan last season. It gave Bolton fans a chance to see for themselves a top-class performer in the making, and since going back to Arsenal he has played regular Premiership and Champions League football – and has never looked out of place.

And you know what? He is greatly appreciative of what Bolton Wanderers did for him last season.