JACK Dunn’s season starts now.

The first half of the Warrington Town winger’s season has perhaps been his career in a nutshell – building himself up only to be knocked down again by injury.

His substitute appearance against Nantwich Town on Saturday was only his second of the season – his first saw him pick up a serious knee injury just 15 minutes after coming off the bench against FC United of Manchester in the FA Cup in September.

It may only have been 10 minutes, but he will look back on them as hugely significant.

“I see this as the start of my season now,” he said.

“You have to mentally overcome these kinds of things.

“The tackle that injured me was completely fair – I’ve been in that kind of tackle so many times and just shook it off but this one time was unfortunate.

“If I go into games thinking I’m going to get injured, I’m more likely to put myself in that position so I’ve just got to battle through.

“It is hard – once you’ve had a couple of those injuries, it plays on your mind but I’ve worked to get over it and face it head on.

“If you go into a tackle and you’re not fully committed, you’ll get hurt more.

“I’ve gone through my rehab and I’m feeling strong.

“Now I just need to ease my way back in and 10 minutes on Saturday was perfect.

“I just wanted the ball – as soon as it came near me I was taking it for a run.

“The lads had done the job and had wrapped up the game before I came on and it was a really important three points for us.”

Onwards now to league leaders South Shields and the long trip to Mariners Park – a place that holds distinctly mixed memories for the 25-year-old.

He scored what turned out to be the winning goal as Yellows wrecked their hosts’ unblemished home record in February.

However, while their return trip in May ended in a glorious play-off final victory, Dunn limped off in the first half.

There may not be the same air of invincibility around Mariners Park this season – Lancaster City and Hyde United have both left with maximum points – but the former England under 19 international is under no illusions about how tough an assignment it will be.

However, he knows the rewards of a third victory on Tyneside this calendar year would be notable.

“Winning there would be massive and it would show that we’re ready to kick on now,” he said.

“I think it was around Christmas time last year that we went on a really good run and we’re looking for the same again.

“South Shields are a tough opponent, but we played them three times last season and won all three. We’re going up there knowing we can do it.

“We know they are going to be good with the ball, but they will find it hard to break us down if we’re disciplined defensively.

“We’ve got the firepower as well going forward to cause problems for them.”