TOWN skipper Rob Edwards hopes to bounce back better than ever from his operation
The 33-year-old had hip surgery on Wednesday which he hopes will put an end to the hamstring injury curse.
And he is already targeting a return by the end of this month.
"I just want to be 100% fit again and, hopefully, this operation will clear the way," said Edwards, who was missing his fifth straight match against Torquay today.
"I am resting at the moment, but I am hoping to start some light training next week.
"With any luck, I won't lose much fitness because I did a lot of hard graft before the operation and I'm looking to be back in two to three weeks."
Edwards had fluid removed from his hip which was discovered in a scan the previous week.
"It's an awful feeling when you know you are not quite fully fit and it's horrible sitting out matches, so I'm keeping fingers crossed that this will do the trick," he added.
"We've got some vital League games to look forward to and also the Carling Cup-tie at Reading and I want to be involved as quickly as I can."
Edwards believes Town are hitting form at just the right time. "The lads said we didn't play that well down at Southend, so it has to be a good sign that we took the three points," he said.
"After a hard-looking game against Torquay, we've got two tough trips to Lincoln and Yeovil so we know we've got to keep the decent performances going."
Meanwhile, David Beckham has vowed not to be intimidated by any dirty tricks by Turkey in today's vital Euro 2004 qualifier in Istanbul and pledged: "I won't get sent off."
The England captain was singled out for special attention during the first meeting at the Stadium of Light and collected an early booking in the 2-0 victory.
* Picture: Champagne moment: Town manager Peter Jackson (left) shares a joke with Jon Stead as the McAlpine striker is presented with a commemorative bottle of bubbly to celebrate his Umbro Isotonic Division III Player of the Month award for September
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