Luke Freeman unsure about his Sheffield United future after stop-start loan spell with Nottingham Forest

The former QPR man joined United as their record signing at the time as they prepared for the Premier League after winning promotion from the Championship, but he found it difficult to displace John Fleck in United’s midfield and joined Forest on loan.

There is an option for Forest to make the move permanent in the summer, but Freeman’s season has been hampered by a botched operation and he admits he isn’t sure what will happen in the future – with struggling United facing up to a return to the Championship.

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“I’m just happy to be back fit,” he said.

“I want to play as many games as I can between now and the end of the season, and just see where it takes me.

“I feel like I’ve shown really good glimpses of where I can be at, although still nowhere near exactly where I want to be - but you’re not going to be when you’ve been out for two or three months.

“I certainly feel like I’m finding my feet and am enjoying being back.”

Freeman was forced to go under the knife in January, to correct a previous operation on a hernia problem that was botched.

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“It’s been a tough one to take, mentally and physically,” he said of the injury. “It affects your confidence.

“It’s the only injury I’ve ever had in my career.

“I had the operation and still had recurring problems. Not a lot was coming up on scans, so I thought I was going crazy! I was thinking, ‘I’m still feeling stuff that I shouldn’t be feeling’ but nothing was coming up on the scans.

“Even when I was playing regularly at the start of the season, it was a lot of painkillers to try to numb the pain for an hour and a half, then I couldn’t walk for two days afterwards!

“It was a vicious cycle. You’d get yourself just about fit for a game on a Saturday, then be struggling all week and then just about fit for the following game.

“It was a difficult period.”

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