A desire to end a frustrating period of "playing Russian roulette" with a knee injury has prompted Wagga goalkeeping product Jada Whyman to go under the knife.
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The Western Sydney Wanderers shot-stopper will miss the entire W-League season after having surgery on Tuesday on a slight patella tendon tear in her left knee which has hampered her progress for two-and-a-half years.
While the 20-year-old is frustrated at being sidelined for at least four months, she is looking forward to being fully fit and ridding herself of the mental and physical battles the knee has given her.
"It's been hard the last couple of years because I haven't been able to perform for my team and coach to the best of my ability," Whyman said.
"It's held me back and I hated being a problem coming into a team, to be honest, because of the injury and not being able to train fully.
"I wasn't able to improve myself, I was always cautious about managing this injury and I'm excited to see if I can push myself better now.
"It's very specific (to manage) and even when I do I can only train twice a week, which doesn't leave much time to be a professional footballer.
"Every time I went up for a cross I was always cautious about how I landed, and doing place kicks I had to place the knee in an exact position for it to not get hurt.
"Having that holding you back and not even being able to do things properly in the gym, it's difficult."
The Wanderers signed Utah Royals keeper Abby Smith for the current W-League campaign, but Whyman said the club was always keen to add another top keeper to their roster even before they opted for surgery.
"We were planning on signing an international goalkeeper anyway," Whyman said.
"Our coach (Dean Heffernan) wanted to have two starting (quality) keepers and even if I was playing, it's great to have that challenge and that pressure."
Whyman said the frustration of being unable to play for the longest period of her career so far will be worth it in the long run.
"It's been a case of Russian roulette with this injury for a while now and it was time to take that away," she said.
"I'm going to take rehab slow to make sure I get it right.
"I'm looking forward to being able to improve and not worry about this injury. It's exciting to see what I can do when I get back and hopefully I will be finally pain-free again."
Despite her niggling injury, Whyman still managed to impress enough to tour Europe with the Matildas late last year.
The Wanderers finished bottom of the W-League table last year, but are expected to be one of the competition's big improvers after a strong recruitment drive.
The newcomers are headlined by American stars Lynn Williams, Denise O'Sullivan and Kristen Hamilton.
The Wanderers began the season in style with a 2-1 home victory over Adelaide last week thanks to a late winner, and were due to host Newcastle Jets on Friday afternoon.
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