Light for Rotherham United's Josh Kayode after so many dark days

​Not that he has anything bad to say about Carlisle, Josh Kayode very much likes Carlisle, but he was having a tough time in the north west.

The Rotherham United striker's 2023/24 loan spell had gone wrong, he'd hardly played and his latest injury wouldn't go away.

“It was my lowest point," he says. “Nothing against the club, everyone knows that I love the club. I had re-injured my calf three times in the space of a month.

“I was living in Carlisle. Miles away. My family were miles away. I was just alone really and had to deal with it by myself.

He sighs at the memory. “It wasn't great.”

We're talking at Roundwood earlier this month the day before the visit of Exeter City. Kayode is back with the Millers now and seeking to revive a career that has been plagued by injuries for more than two years.

It's a sign of progress that I've requested an interview. The former Republic of Ireland youth international is fit again and making an impact as a substitute. He's back in the public eye People are starting to remember the talent that Rotherham's forgotten man possesses.

There might even be the offer of a new contract at the end of the season for the 24-year-old who left Dublin to move to AESSEAL New York Stadium when he was 16.

He made his senior breakthrough during two initial loan spells at Carlisle in 2021 and 2022 when a double-figure League Two goal tally and a series of man-of-the-match awards marked him out as someone to watch.

The following season brought 29 outings, most of which were off the bench, as Paul Warne's Millers climbed from the third tier to the Championship.

Kayode was emerging, lower-league clubs were clamouring to take him on loan, he was scoring goals for Ireland's U-21 side.

Then his troubles began.

A knee issue wrecked a spell at MK Dons and he needed surgery on a quad problem soon after returning to his parent side in January 2023.

There was more misery last season when he suffered severe shoulder damage only two games into his third stint with Carlisle and a calf complaint ruined his comeback, before a calf issue saw this term's loan at Shrewsbury Town cut short.

“No-one really understands it unless they've been through it,” he says. “It's been a really tough two and a half years. I've got good people around me to help me get through the hard times. If you have good people around you, you can get through anything.

“You go through stages where you think you're finally getting there and then you do your quad and you're out for four and a half months. You get back and then you do your shoulder and you're out for five months.

"You get the whole ‘injury-prone’ tag, but no-one knows what's really going on. They were freak accidents. It's not been a case of having a recurring injury. They've been things that would never usually happen. I've just been unlucky.”

The ‘good people’ he talks about are his family, who these days are based in Manchester, and he acknowledges his debt of gratitude to his mother, Omonike, father Joseph and younger sibling Caleb.

They're part of the reason why he kept on going when injuries kept on biting and so did the jibes on social media.

“Hats off to them, my mum and dad are always there, my little brother's always there,” he says.

“There have been times when I've been like: ‘Do you know what? Just pack it in.’ Without them, I don't know what I'd be right now.

“I even packed in Twitter and all of that. We're footballers, we do go on and we do look at it sometimes. You're like: ‘If only you knew what was really going on.’

When he first came to Rotherham, Kayode used to cry himself to sleep and wish he could go home, but tough love from his father, who knew the tears would eventually subside, kept him in South Yorkshire.

“In the summer, it will be nine years since I moved over,” he says. “The club means a lot to me. I would love to keep it going. First things first, I've just got to see out the season and get in as many minutes and make as much of an impact as I can.”

He looks the part in his grey training top, black short and white socks and bristles with latent energy. His outfit is completed by flip-flops. Training isn't due to start for another hour or so and the boots have yet to be pulled on.

He's a big presence at 6ft 3in tall; still rangy but with more bulk to him after a lot of hours spent lifting weights.

It feels good to be talking to him again. We've known each other for a long time and it pleases me to see the old spark lighting him up once more.

Boss Steve Evans has helped with that, he reveals. "The gaffer has given me a bit of confidence. I've just got to take it and show him what I can do."

The present manager reckons the player hasn't always felt loved by previous ones and I raise the subject.

There's a long pause while Kayode weighs up his answer ... "It's a fair comment. I don't want to elaborate on that."

Happily, that Carlisle nadir of last season feels very much in the past.

“You have to be mentally strong,” he says. “I come in for training every day and everyone sees that I've got a smile on my face. They wouldn't think: ‘Hey, he's gone through a really bad time.’

“It's important how you deal with things. You can go down a really dark hole.

“Now I just want to enjoy myself, really. I haven't enjoyed football in so long. I feel like if I do enjoy myself then everything else will take care of itself.

“I'm not thinking too much, I'm just having fun and trying to play well. Whatever happens after that is down to the club, down to the board, down to the gaffer.

“I feel like if I give a good account of myself on the pitch then it can go only one way.”