RYAN Clarke says he is working harder than ever before in a bid to recover from double shoulder surgery in time for the opening day of pre-season.

And the 30-year-old wants to build the strongest shoulders in the division to ensure the worst injury of his career is firmly a thing of the past.

Clarke went under the knife twice in the space of a month to correct the problems, which he had played on with for several weeks before finally admitting defeat..

It meant he was house-bound for several weeks, but after getting the green light from the surgeon the recovery is now in full swing.

Clarke has started running again and is determined to be in good shape when the rest of the squad returns from their summer break.

He said: “My pre-season has started now really.

“I’m training harder now than I’ve ever done, but I need to because I want to come back really fit for next year and have a good start to the season.

“The plan is to come back stronger and better so I don’t get any recurrence of injuries in that area.

“With the programmes I’m on I can promise you how intense they are and I’d like to think my shoulders will be the strongest in League Two.”

Injuries have plagued United’s squad over the last year, but being on the sidelines is a relatively uncommon situation for Clarke, who had barely missed a game since joining in 2009.

It is not an experience he is keen to repeat.

“I’m so hungry to get back out there because I’m not the best person to be around at home when I’m injured,” he said.

“I find watching games quite difficult because I just want to be out there.

“You miss building up to a game during the week and little things like getting the kit bag ready and preparing to go out for the warm-up.

“Then the emotion afterwards – it’s not just the games you miss, it’s the build-up and the come-down as well.

“I’ve been quite fortunate with injuries, I’m 31 soon and touch-wood I’ve not had too many serious injuries.

“Other players have had it a lot worse than me, so I’ve been quite lucky in that respect.”