Ben Loader: London Irish winger nearing return from knee ligament injury rehab

Ben Loader has been limited to only four Premiership appearances this season

London Irish winger Ben Loader believes he will be stronger both on and off the field after his rehabilitation from a left knee posterior ligament injury.

Loader, 23, was injured in Irish's impressive away win at Exeter in October where he also scored a try.

"I'm on the home stretch, so I'm excited to get back," he told the club's Exile Nation podcast.

"What has been a 12-week injury has felt like a seven-month one because of previous injuries I've had."

Loader, who played for England in a non-cap international against the Barbarians in June 2019, hopes to rediscover his form when he returns to action.

"I've been a bit unlucky I feel having had a knee injury in May, a shoulder injury in August and then this injury to the same knee in October," he said.

"The timing of the injuries has been tough, but every time I do get injured, I just want to come back stronger and develop as much as I can outside of rugby to ensure I'm in a better place.

"The initial feelings were huge disappointment as the injury occurred 15 minutes into the [Exeter] game and I played the rest of it.

"I thought it was just a little knock and then after a night's sleep, I'd woken up and one knee was twice the size of the other.

"After the scans being told it would be a longer one, you just have to focus day-by-day and on the bits of training you can still do and on other aspects of your life to make it more bearable.

"But the past few weeks slowly being back into more team stuff has definitely been a positive."