Former Sunderland and Hartlepool United midfielder praised after return from horror injury

South Shields manager Elliott Dickman has described former Sunderland midfielder Martin Smith as ‘a real competitor’ after he made a successful comeback from a horror injury.

The 28-year-old was a team-mate of the likes of Lyndon Gooch, George Honeyman and Jordan Pickford during his time with the Black Cats academy before going on to feature for the likes of Kilmarnock, Swindon Town and Hartlepool United at senior level. Smith joined South Shields from the latter of that trio during the summer of 2022 and helped a Mariners side managed by Black Cats legend Kevin Phillips secure the Northern Premier League Premier Division title during his first season with the club. After making over 40 appearances in all competitions during the Mariners first ever season in the National League North, Smith was expected to play a lead role as former Sunderland academy coach Elliott Dickman prepared for his first full season in charge at the 1st Cloud Arena.

Smith underwent a planned hernia operation during the summer - but suffered a serious fall in hospital that led to a fractured skull and a bleed on the brain. The midfielder made his comeback in a 1-0 league defeat at Chester earlier this month after coming through a period of recovery and was handed a first start since the final day of last season in last weekend’s 5-0 FA Cup defeat at the hands of Macclesfield. Ahead of Saturday’s home game with Chorley, Dickman revealed Smith continued to play an influential role in the Mariners dressing room throughout his recovery and praised the impact the experienced midfielder has made on his squad.

The Mariners boss told The Echo: It’s massive having him back in the squad because to have someone of Martin’s experience is really good for us. He’s a real competitor, he’s drives really high standards and he’s really professional, not that the other lads in the squad aren’t.  He drives things forwards and he’s really good in and around the changing room, which he continued to be when he was recovering from his injury. It’s fantastic to have him back, he’s a massive part of what we are trying to achieve here and he’s a massive part of the squad.  It is a squad effort, it’s a squad game and we fully believe in the squad we have got and we just need to make sure everything we do is to the best we can offer.”

Dickman also praised Smith for the leading role has taken in helping the Mariners squad with their ‘soul searching’ following last weekend’s FA Cup hammering at the hands of Northern Premier League leaders Macclesfield.

He said: “The senior players have been excellent, particularly Briggsy (Robert Briggs, South Shields club captain) and Smudger (Smith).  They’ve taken the bull by the horns and the players have had some deep conversations themselves and they’ve done a little bit of soul searching between them.  We are managing how we are and the fact the players have had these conversations and have been first class in training speaks a lot of them.”