LOOKING forward rather than back has been one of Glenn Howes’s greatest challenges.

The third anniversary of Howes suffering a sickening career-ending injury is hardly a cause for celebration.

Instead, on February 16, the day Howes’s life was turned upside-down, he will attempt to guide Blackfield & Langley into the semi-final of the Southampton Senior Cup.

Howes took on his first managerial post in May after his own playing career had been cruelly cut short at 30 having been the victim of a horror tackle while playing for Poole in the Southern League.

He sustained multiple injuries to his left leg when he was caught by Merthyr’s Nathan Davies during a 2-2 draw in south Wales. Howes will not discuss publicly the incident as legal action is still ongoing.

Davies, who now plays for Goytre in the Welsh League, received a three-match ban after being sent off for the tackle. Howes, meanwhile, has suffered three years of physical and mental torment.

Now general manager at Ferndown Leisure Centre, he spent months off work and had to sit for weeks with his leg elevated virtually 24 hours a day. The immediate consequences included deep vein thrombosis and a blocked blood vessel.

However, those complications pale into insignificance compared with what lies ahead for Howes, a highly-rated midfielder whose semi-pro career took in spells with Eastleigh, Basingstoke, Newport, Gosport and Poole.

The incident was filmed and the nine-second clip of when Howes’s life changed forever has been viewed almost 38,000 times on You Tube.

“In the early stages, I watched it on numerous occasions,” said Howes. “However, I don’t view it any more for obvious reasons.

“I attended a number of sessions with a cognitive behavioural psychotherapist who was brilliant in refocusing my goals.

“It was a huge shock to the system not being able to train, to play games and being removed from the camaraderie environment that football brings.

“In many ways, my lifestyle has regressed, particularly from a mobility point of view.

Unfortunately, I am unable to do a variety of activities and have now moved into a more sedentary job.

“I have been told by the surgeon that more surgery will be needed and, longer term, a knee replacement will be required in the next 10 to 15 years.

“It is my aim to delay the surgery for as long as possible through staying active and healthy by managing the knee appropriately.

“I feel very fortunate that I can now do most things within reason and am really focusing on looking forward rather than back.”

While Howes has enjoyed a fruitful baptism in management – with Blackfield currently flying high in Wessex Premier and having reached the third qualifying round of the FA Cup – he readily admits there is no substitute for playing.

“People say coaching and managing is the next best thing to playing and it probably is,” said Howes. “But it hasn’t been easy by any stretch of the imagination.

“I’m enjoying it and it’s great to be in and around the dressing room and around a football club again.

“But not a day goes by when I don’t think about playing. It was really difficult to get involved in the training sessions when I first started because you become a frustrated player. Once you set out the boys on the pitch, you can change it but it’s up to them to deliver.

“To this day, I still struggle. I don’t think it is going to get any easier but I’m sure any ex-player would say the same.

“It’s not just because of my circumstances and, when the time comes to retire, anybody would say there is no substitute for playing a game you love.

“Life is full of what-ifs. Could my own behaviour have affected what happened? Could I have released the ball quicker? Was I in the incorrect position?

“All these things go through your mind. Hindsight is a wonderful thing. It’s done and dusted and I am trying to move on as best I can.

“I want to channel my energies into Blackfield & Langley and trying to develop myself as a coach and manager.”