Barely a week on from surgery to repair his ruptured Achilles tendon, Dan Gosling is watching wall-to-wall World Cup coverage while rendered immobile.
It's a far cry from a mild November afternoon in Bristol when the versatile 32-year-old was just 10 minutes or so from a well-earned four-week break when he crumpled to the Ashton Gate turf - only too aware of what had happened to him.
"I knew the extent of the injury within the first couple of seconds," recalls the versatile midfielder, ruefully. "I heard a big pop and the Sunday morning scan to confirm things didn't bring me any miracle news.
"My initial feelings were all about anger. I knew it was close to the end of the game. That would have been a chance for a break, to rest and have a mental break from the demands of our season.
"I was gutted, disappointed; every sort of bad feeling you can think of, and that really just spilled out towards everyone around me.
"I was just angry with the situation I found myself in and what you saw was just me venting at everyone because, like I say, I knew straight away what I'd done."
Lauded by his Head Coach Slaven Bilić for his professionalism and quality at both right-back and in central midfield, Gosling is a pragmatic soul and one who prefers to look forward rather than back.
"Fortunately, I got a date for surgery pretty quickly so I'm already coming up to a week post-op," he said.
"My leg is elevated, as it has to be right now, so I'm not doing too much; well, unless you count watching every minute of the World Cup as being busy!?"
The tournament has come at a good time, given the enforced period of rest he's having to endure.
He said: "It's very much a case of sticking to the rehab plan with this one. You'll feel good pretty quick, they said to me, but that can deceive you slightly in those early weeks.
"I've got to stick closely to what's asked of me for the first two to three months, then we'll have a look at how it's going."
Does that suggest there's still a chance to get back towards the end of this season?
"I'm not so sure," he said. "Maybe if I pushed every timeline to the max, but I can't find myself thinking it's worth rushing and doing that. Let's see how we go in these first 10 to 12 weeks and have a look then."
The likely return timescales point to May, but as he readily states, he's hoping there won't be too many games for the Hornets by then.
He said: "If we can finish in the top two, then it's done by the first weekend in May!" A true team player's outlook, that.
"I'm still part of the WhatsApp groups and stuff, so I'm involved in the conversations. I had a lot of messages over the weekend of the injury and I've spoken to most of the lads individually. Everyone's been great."
Once he's up and about, the hard yards of rehab will start, though, and as players have previously referenced, spending time in a gym when colleagues are running around on the grass can be tough.
"A lot of it is about mentality and I'm someone who prefers to look forward and be positive," smiled Gosling.
"It's not the most enjoyable, but there's a few other lads going to be at it as well at the training ground next week, so there'll be a bit of a bond there so everyone can get the work done.
"I'm not really a social media person but I've been made aware there's been a lot of positive messages for me from our fans, so I'd like to thank them for that.
"Even though I'm injured, I'm determined to feel very much part of the group and I know the Head Coach is big on that as well."
