Newcastle boss Eddie Howe admitted he was “not 100 per cent” but was “delighted” to be back as he made his return to work following his recovery from pneumonia.
The club announced that the 47-year-old, who was admitted to hospital on April 11 after feeling unwell for several days, was back behind his desk on Wednesday.
The Magpies boss missed his side’s Premier League fixtures against Manchester United, Crystal Palace and Aston Villa but is back in time for their clash with relegation-threatened Ipswich on Saturday.
Howe admitted he had experienced a “range of emotions” in the last fortnight, saying: “I’m OK. I’m not 100 per cent in my body, but I’d like to think I’m very close to 100 per cent in my mind, which is the most important thing.
“I tried to take a positive from every experience, I think that’s really important to try and do that, but this has been a real challenge because your health, you take for granted.
“I certainly have and when you don’t have the luxury of feeling normal, it can be very difficult.
“I certainly have been through a range of emotions, but thankfully I feel like I’m on the road to recovery, which is the most important thing and I’m delighted to be here.”
Howe revealed that he had felt unwell while overseeing Newcastle’s 3-0 win away at Leicester on April 7 and had initially hoped to take training ahead of the United game.
“The Leicester game, I took and I felt awful. I planned to come back into training in preparation for the Manchester United game,” he said.
“I got out of bed, had a shower and I was going through the process of ‘right I’ve got to go’ and I couldn’t, something was telling me no, I need to get back to bed.
“That was sort of the moment things changed.”
As well as thanking hospital staff, Howe expressed his gratitude towards club doctor Paul Catterson and suggested that without his intervention there may have possibly been a “different outcome”.
“It was in the respect that I felt really bad, but I didn’t know how bad,” Howe said.
“I’m one of those people – probably like most men – that go through everything…you don’t necessarily offer yourself to doctors and people because you think ‘I’ll be OK in a couple of days’ and fight through it.
“I’m very much in the mindset of that, I’ll go through anything until you can’t.
“I was very thankful that the doctor here, Paul Catterson, acted quickly because without that quick intervention then possibly it could’ve had a different outcome.
“I was treated really well in hospital and thankfully now through the worst of it.”
Speaking about Dr Catterson, Howe added: “I’m very lucky the job that I’m in, that I have very good people I can reach out to.
“Paul came to see me and it was him taking some blood tests that highlighted what the problem was and how serious the problem was.
“Without his care and without him wanting to come and visit me – because it wasn’t me going to him, it was him coming to me – that is why I consider myself very fortunate to have that.”
