AFTER almost 20 months out of the first team, West Ham defender Danny Gabbidon is delighted to dispel the memories of his injury nightmare.

The Wales international, who has not played at Upton Park since the 2-1 defeat by Everton in a League Cup quarter-final tie in December 2007, believes he can become a key figure for manager Gianfranco Zola.

The 30-year-old said: “It's been a long time. I’m just happy to be back training, back playing.

“Obviously I want to make up for lost time and try to be available for as many games as possible.”

A series of abdominal injuries and problems during rehab sidelined Gabbidon until the end of last season, when he got back into full training.

The centre-back, who has played 75 times in all competitions for the Hammers, believes the players are keen to impress the manager ahead of the new campaign.

He said: “I’ve been injured for a little while so the manager hasn’t really seen me play and I’ve got to take a little bit of time to get used to what he wants from me as a player.

“I’m enjoying it, all the players are enjoying it, because, as you can see now, we’re playing good football. That’s how he wants us to play and that’s always been the tradition of West Ham.

“I’m sure there’s more to come from the team. The manager’s still relatively new so I’m sure there’s more to come from him as well.”

Despite the lack of signings this summer, the pick of centre-backs is plentiful, with Gabbidon competing for a place along with Matthew Upson, James Collins and James Tomkins.

But Gabbidon believes that can only be good for the club.

“It’s one of the strongest areas of our team, so whoever plays is going to do a good job,” he said.

“We all get on well and we’re all good players, so whoever’s playing it’s good luck to them, and whoever’s not playing will bide their time and wait for their chance, and then hopefully take it.

“We’ll see what happens next week with the first game, but I’m sure none of us will be too disappointed if we’re not playing. There’s a long way to go this season and anything can happen.”