Ilmari Niskanen: Exeter City’s Finland winger set to return after injury

Exeter City’s Finland winger Ilmari Niskanen may be back in the League One side’s lineup this weekend after healing from a dislocated shoulder.

Niskanen’s absence has coincided with a downturn in form that has resulted in City slipping from the top of League One to 18th place, with only one league win during that period.

He joined Exeter from Dundee United in August but has only played three times.

“He’s an incredible character in how he’s approached this situation,” manager Gary Caldwell told BBC Radio Devon.

“It would have been very easy for him to just go and get an operation and be out for four months, but he has worked extremely hard with the physios to get to the level he is.

“He’s been training for two or three weeks now and progressing in terms of his load and the contact that he can take.

“He’s got a mindset and character that’s got him to this point and hopefully he can continue to go through the processes to help him play and get back to full fitness and play week in, week out, which would be brilliant for the whole team really.”

Niskanen’s return is a boost for an Exeter side that have been ravaged with injuries over the past couple of months.

Dion Rankine, Jack Aitchison, Cheick Diabate, Harry Kite and Admiral Muskwe are among the other City players who have missed significant chunks of the season with injury, while influential winger Demetri Mitchell is
out for the rest of the season after damaging knee ligaments last week.

“It’s been a big factor in what’s gone wrong, and I could talk for a long, long time on how that has impacted a lot of different things,” Caldwell said.

“Ultimately, we can control some injuries – soft tissue injuries which we’ve had a few, but very small ones – the only major one being Dion Rankine.

“But we have had a lot of contact injuries, which are uncontrollable.

“You have to deal with it, you can’t get too down about it, it’s part and parcel of the game, so we have to deal with that however it comes.”