Sydney FC striker Corey Gameiro keen to make up for lost time after freak preseason injury Corey Gameiro is finally back in full training after a freak injury. SEVEN weeks after a freak injury that took its toll as much mentally as physically, young striker Corey Gameiro is finally back in full training again and ready to add his firepower to the Sydney FC cause. Left bewildered by dislocating his knee at a TV promotional shoot on the eve of the season - and quickly followed by the death of a close relative - Gameiro is desperate to train the house down and earn a starting berth that all through pre-season had been his to claim. The 20-year-old, with an impressive six goals in 11 appearances for the Young Socceroos, was a major off-season signing for coach Frank Farina. But after slipping on a marble floor in his boots filming a video, Gameiro's dislocated knee has required careful strengthening - compounding the "mental battles" that are part of an injured footballer's lot. "It's mentally harder than physically - these things happen to your body, it's part of my job in a sense," he said. How I got injured was difficult to comprehend, but overall it was just frustrating. When I came here I was told I would play, and all the preseason games I was part of the starting XI. Then a week out from the season the injury happens, and it's been hard to watch every week. There's been a lot of mental battles going on, but hopefully that's behind me. Frank (Farina) ] has been great since I came here. He's been really approachable - any problem or drama I've had, he's been excellent. My uncle passed away about five weeks ago as well, so that was tough. Frank's been a real gentleman, and I want to try to repay that back to him. With Sydney shooting up the table on the back of three straight wins, Gameiro is the first to note that getting into the team will prove a battle. "Now I feel great, I feel strong and fast," he said. They're monitoring me very carefully to make sure nothing is aggravated around the knee, like the quad or the hamstring, and other than that it's all going really well. If I get through this week with no problems then maybe next week I'll be available, but I'm fighting for a spot, I'm under no illusions about that. The team's been very successful in recent weeks, and I'll have to train well enough to get a starting place back. Consolation has come in the company Gameiro has kept since joining the Sky Blues after years on the periphery at Fulham in the English Premier League - but he has no regrets about the route taken to get here. "This is the first Christmas at home with my family in three years, little things like that make a big difference," he said. Being over there (in the UK) was tough, but I felt it was the right thing for me at the time. I got some quality coaching, and was training twice a day which is more than the kids do here. Now I'm here in a first team environment and able to learn. Players like Alessandro (Del Piero), he was one of the reasons I signed here. To learn off one of the best strikers in the world is not a chance many people get. Rich Garcia is another with experience of the top level in Europe, there's Nicky Carle - to have these players around me, when they say something, even though sometimes I'm a bit cheeky to them, I'm listening and taking it in.