Ryan’s keeping his focus

Ryan Sessegnon has been busy finding different ways of keeping himself occupied during the lockdown.

While, like the rest of his teammates, Ryan has been focussed on keeping his fitness up through his home-training schedule set out by our coaching staff, the youngster has also been looking for other ways to keep himself ticking over around his daily exercise.

A keen video gamer, our number 19 has enjoyed representing the Club in a series of e-sports FIFA tournaments over the last few weeks while, at the same time, rediscovering a variety of other activities to pass the time at home, including some which he admits he usually wouldn’t even think about doing in normal circumstances.

Yet, the England Under-21 international knows just how important it is to find alternative ways of stimulating the mind and even learn new things, as we all look for a way to get through this challenging period.

“At the start, obviously it was a bit tough with everyone being at home, you try to do what you can,” the 19-year-old explained. “We’ve been training at home with our daily schedules, trying to stay fit in any possible way and gradually, I think it’s become a bit easier as we’re getting used to it.

“Other than that, it is just about trying to keep yourself entertained with something other than exercise, such as games and the PlayStation. I have been keeping busy by playing FIFA. There have been a lot of tournaments and games that I have been involved with which have been shown across social media. That’s kept me going through this period.

“I’ve also been doing a lot of puzzles – stuff that I wouldn’t really do otherwise at home, any little thing to keep you going. I’ve been doing some puzzles with the girlfriend - big puzzles with small pieces, like a thousand pieces – things I wouldn’t normally really do. I’ve even been reading. Like I know that if life was a bit more normal, I definitely wouldn’t be reading, but even reading books to pass the time has been a good idea. I’ve been reading business books - ways to save money, ways to increase money - and stuff like that. Time goes by quite quickly when you’re reading and you learn new things. You can never stop learning.

“It’s been very important for the mental side of life. When you have people around you, things to do, it keeps your mind going. Thankfully, I don’t think anyone in the squad is on their own, which is a plus as well, everyone always has someone there or something to do.

“It’s just been about trying to find that focus for your mind and keeping at it. Even though it’s difficult, you’ve got to do it. It’s got to be done. So, when you come back into it, the transition is smoother rather than really hard.”