Victor Boniface has reacted to making his first appearance after the ghastly accident that he had last weekend, which made him miss Bayer Leverkusen’s UEFA Champions League clash with Brest on Wednesday.
The accident resulted in damages estimated at 200,000 euros, but thankfully, he avoided serious injury and is back in action.
The Super Eagles striker was reinstated to the starting lineup as Leverkusen were held to a 2-2 draw by Werder Bremen at the Weserstadion at the weekend, which is now keeping them five points adrift of the top of the table.
He opened the scoring with a fine strike, leaving Werder Bremen goalkeeper Michael Zetterer rooted to the spot, but despite helping the Black and Reds to a fine start, they were unable to garner maximum points.
Speaking after the game, the 23-year-old expressed his delight to be back in action but was disappointed Bayer Leverkusen surrendered their lead late on to draw with Werder Bremen.
“It felt good to come back from such a situation. I am really happy with the reaction and the messages from the fans. I am happy to be playing football again and to feel their support,” Boniface said.
He added: “We can do much better as a team. We have to stay focused for the full 90 minutes. If we can do that, we will win the games.
“We are very annoyed that we didn’t win the game. We know: This is football and games like this can happen. Our mentality is to fight back in the next few weeks.”
The Nigeria international has had an identical start to that of last term, scoring six goals in eight games, one less than he had recorded at this stage last season.
After missing a significant number of games last season due to injury, Boniface is hoping to avoid a repeat this time around.