Hereford United's John Grant aims to be back in action inside two weeks after recovering from a broken leg.

The ex-Crewe Alexandra striker suffered a cracked fibula inside the first five minutes of the Bulls clash with Kettering on September 24 during a tackle by Edgar Street old boy Scott Goodwin.

It was a painful blow for the 21-year-old but such was his desire to impress United manager Graham Turner he played on through the pain before eventually going off.

"Scott Goodwin was pretty fired up and tackled me from behind me after five minutes but I carried on even though it hurt like hell," he recalls. I'd broken my fibula but I toughed it out because I wanted to show the manager I wasn't faking it. The assistant manager Richard O'Kelly had said 'I'm not sure you fancy it because you haven't scored' so I played on just to prove I wasn't."

The injury was cruel luck on Grant, who had the missed the first three games of the season for a red card picked up for Northwich Victoria last season, and he was just hitting his stride when he limped off.

"For the first four games I hadn't felt my normal self but the two games prior to the injury I was just finding my sharpness so it's been frustrating to sit out the last six weeks.

"I won't be back for the Wigan FA Cup match but I'm hoping to come back for the match after that."

Grant was with Crewe from the age of 13 and made his debut at 17 but after just three starts over the next three seasons decided to move in search of regular football.

A loan spell at Northwich saw him score four goals in 11 matches but on the advice of Crewe's youth team coach Steve Holland he signed for Turner. "At the end of the day I want to play every week and see it as a step forward playing at Hereford," said Grant.

Now settled in Hereford, Grant is getting used to the slower way of life compared to the hectic pace in Manchester but remains desperate to return to the hurly-burly of the football field.