Shaw lifts lid on double leg break

RECALLED England defender Luke Shaw spent most of the past year coming back from a double leg break but he never recoiled from watching the incident back.

The Manchester United left-back was left crumbled in pain and nursing two fractures in his right leg after a tackle from PSV Eindhoven's Hector Moreno last September.

It was the kind of injury that draws winces from team-mates and fans alike and, although it cost Shaw the rest of the season, an FA Cup final appearance and a place at Euro 2016, he does not find it difficult to watch or talk about.

Speaking ahead of Sunday's World Cup qualifier against Slovakia, where he will be vying with Tottenham's Danny Rose for a starting berth, the 21-year-old was happy to show off the two neat scars.

"I don't mind answering questions about my leg. I think sometimes people don't like talking about it, but I'm not bothered," he said.

"I wasn't bothered watching videos of it or pictures of my leg. That might sound a bit weird but I feel comfortable talking about it because I feel stronger than ever.

"At first I did start thinking 'am I really like this?' but it's my leg at the end of the day.

"I went through a bad time during the leg break but I came through that stronger as a person. Now it does not faze me."

His lack of squeamishness extends to seeing similar injuries to other players, but it was certainly not a quality passed down in the genes.

"I don't like to see it (happen to others) because I know what they're going through, but I can look at it," he said. "But mum and dad? They hate it, especially dad."

Despite his willingness to answer questions about his injury and subsequent lay-off, Shaw does not want to be defined by it.

Instead, having started the season as a first-choice under Jose Mourinho at Old Trafford and won his England spot back at the first time of asking, he wants people talking about his on-field exploits.

"Of course I don't want people to know me as the left-back who broke his leg when he was young. I want to be winning trophies, not just with United but with England as well.

"I want them to know me for how I play on the pitch and for how many trophies I hopefully win."

Shaw was eased gently back into training by the medical staff at Carrington, but privately he had targeted a comeback in time for the Euros.

There were whispers he had been pushing for a role in United's FA Cup final, but such aspirations sprung more from the eagerness of youth than a solid fitness assessment.

"It's a Euros and it's obviously a massive thing for me but I did give up towards about a month left," he added. "That's the best decision I could have made. I wish I was there, but I look back at as a good decision I didn't go."