Ronan Curtis Back to Full Fitness After Knee Surgery

Ronan Curtis insists he is back to his “fully fit best” after summer knee surgery and has wasted no time proving it in a Plymouth Argyle shirt.

The 30-year-old winger, who turned last season’s loan from Port Vale into a permanent move in January, played through pain for much of the previous campaign after suffering a slight meniscus tear in pre-season. He still managed 23 appearances and two goals in all competitions, but every game came with a cost.

There were tablets before matches. Swelling after them. Management, not freedom.

That has changed.

“The knee’s good,” Curtis told BBC South West, a simple verdict on a complicated year. “I got the surgery in the summer… I could play through the pain just managing it through last season. But I managed to get it done this season, get the surgery and back to my fully fit best now.”

The numbers back up his feeling. Curtis has started all five of Argyle’s League One fixtures so far, as the Pilgrims have opened the campaign with two wins and two defeats. For a player who spent last season nursing an injury and rationing his body, the ability to go again, week after week, is significant.

He knew the operation could not be delayed any longer.

“It was something that I needed to get done in the summer because the odd time it would swell up and taking too many tablets to get me through games and stuff like that,” he said. The tone was matter-of-fact, not dramatic. This was maintenance, not a gamble.

Now, the conversation is different. No more questions about whether the knee will hold. No more wondering how long the swelling will last.

“I have all faith in myself to come back stronger, fitter and much better,” Curtis said.

Five starts into the new campaign, that sounds less like optimism and more like a statement of intent for the season ahead.