After suffering injury whilst on loan with Matlock Town towards the end of 2025, Spireites youngster Gunner Elliott has recently headed out to Malta to continue his rehabilitation with the Maltese FA, working alongside sports scientists and physios as he works towards a return to the pitch.
“I was out on loan for a month and it was a good experience,” he said. “I started to play well, getting some minutes after my initial injury in August, but I picked up another ankle injury in that last game which saw me get stretchered off. I’ve been in the gym with Chesterfield for about seven weeks and then I flew out over to Malta and so far I’ve had a week and a half of rehabilitation over here.
“I’m very thankful of them. They’ve always been supportive of me ever since I came over in October 2024 for an international camp with the U17s. Justin Tellus being a good link has helped me have a great relationship with them and I can’t thank them enough for allowing me to come over and work on my recovery.
“I’m very thankful for both the MFA and the club for being so supportive of me through this injury, especially Roderick Vella who works with the MFA, Bjorn Vassallo the MFA president, and then also the first team staff and the gaffer at Chesterfield for allowing me to go on this trip to get back to full fitness.”
Explaining his daily routine, he said: “I work with the strength and conditioning coach who one day will do upper body and then the next day will do conditioning and then after that I would go work with physio who treats my ankle and then we go through my daily exercises. The first week it’s been in the gym and this week I’ve been out on the pitch which has felt really good.”
With Malta having a range of international fixtures coming up over the next few weeks across the age groups, Elliott expressed his optimism in featuring for the country in the near future.
He added: “I’m targeting hopefully going away in March, whether that be the first team or the U21s or the U19s, I can play for a range of age groups. I just have to see how I get on towards the very end of my rehabilitation as to whether I can play, but it fills me with a lot of confidence that they are backing me with this support.”
