Moses Odubajo revealed all in an interview with Nancy Frostick of The Athletic, admitting he was suffering from depression following a two-year injury at Hull City. The 26-year-old said he had anger problems for a long time and had to work hard on improving his mental health before he was well again.
Odubajo’s not had the best debut season at Sheffield Wednesday, having spent the majority of the campaign out of the starting eleven, but he’s determined to change fans’ perception of him. The right-back has one more year remaining on his deal at Hillsborough and wants to earn himself a contract extension.
In the summer of 2016, Odubajo’s Hull City had won promotion to the Premier League. The defender would never manage to play in the top-flight, however, as he suffered a dislocated knee cap and had successive fractures that would keep him out of football for two years.
He told The Athletic: “If I look back now, I probably would have been diagnosed with depression because of the state I was in. I just felt like a ticking time bomb all the time. I was angry at the world and I didn’t want to hear the world’s answers.
“I was taking it out on my loved ones and there were stages where I didn’t want to leave my bed in the morning, where I didn’t want to shower, and it’s tough because growing up, I have always had that survival instinct and mentality.
“It was only when I could really see the light at the end of the tunnel coming that I realised. The day I returned to training made it all worth it and the smile on my face was just incredible.
“Physically, I am fine now but only recently have I mentally recovered from that injury which haunted me for the last couple of years. It wears away at your mental state because as athletes, you can’t perform at the level that you used to perform at and that is going to affect you.
“It’s only through the help of seeking advice, reading books, watching motivational stuff on YouTube and having time to reflect which has helped.”
He was offered a new deal by Hull in 2018 but opted to re-join Brentford ahead of the 2018/19 season. Odubajo went on to make 35 appearances before joining Wednesday on a free transfer.
The 26-year-old made 17 appearances for the Owls but featured only twice in 2020 and found himself behind Liam Palmer for the majority of the campaign.
Odubajo isn’t giving up, however. He added: “This has been a hard transition (joining Wednesday). I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t. As athletes, we have to adjust to that and things haven’t clicked mentally for me with the new team but it’s something that I’m working on and trying to rectify.
“If the season does carry on or if it is next season, I’m looking to make amends. If you’ve not been in good form, then the fans see that and let you know about it. It’s part of the job. It comes with training and playing with a big club, and you have to take that on the chin and make it motivate us.”
As things stand, the season is still postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic and it remains to be seen if things will resume in England.
