Kamil Conteh missed the entire second half of last season with a rare bone infection but is now back playing for Bristol Rovers and is expected to stay in north Bristol beyond this summer
Daniel Hargraves Bristol Rovers reporter
13:00, 29 Aug 2025
Bristol Rovers midfielder Kamil Conteh missed the second half of last season with a bone infection(Image: Tom Sandberg/PPAUK)
When Kamil Conteh walked off of the pitch at St. James Park on Boxing Day last year, a day which also happened to be the midfielder’s 22nd birthday, there was no indication that the Bristol Rovers favourite was going to end up missing the remainder of the season.
Rovers lost 3-1 to Exeter City with then-new head coach Inigo Calderon sat in the stands ahead of taking charge as Matt Taylor’s permanent replacement. Former coach Dave Horseman took interim duties that day. In the end, Conteh never played for Calderon and had to watch helplessly from the sidelines as the Gas were relegated to League Two.
What started out as some discomfort in his knee ended up being far more serious as the midfielder was diagnosed with osteomyelitis in his foot, a rare bone infection – the same problem that, coincidentally, Bristol City right-back Ross McCrorie suffered from at the start of his Robins tenure in 2023.
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The 22-year-old is a popular figure in north Bristol, bringing positivity to the changing room and doing everything he does with a smile. That wasn’t the case as he dealt with something he wouldn’t wish on any human being.
“I’d say the next day I came in, I felt something on my knee,” Conteh reflected to Bristol Live, going back to that Exeter game. “We ended up doing a scan on my knee and it was just fluid but I think the infection was always in my foot but I feel like the knee was like a sort of distraction.
“As time went on, then I started feeling my foot. So I went for a scan for that which showed a bone bruise and then [I was] still doing work in the gym, still doing the work, and then we did a final scan to confirm that I had osteomyelitis.
“I’d say that all happened in January. From Boxing Day, I probably didn’t end up going back home for like a good three or four weeks. So I was just up in Bristol doing scans.
“I had to get my knee drained at a specialist and then I done another scan to confirm the osteomyelitis and then that’s when I got antibiotics in the hospital and then I had to take four tablets every four hours for six weeks.
“It was tough just because I always want to play. Being a footballer, that’s the job, to play, so especially not knowing what the injury was and then there was other stuff going on in terms of having sleepless nights, waking up and just not sleeping properly and I was feeling ill a lot, my body started breaking down. Stuff like that and it was tough and I wasn’t seeing my family for a period of time.
“So doing that, having that all in a month was tough so, yeah, it was tough to go through but now to see, to see the journey now and how I am right now speaking to you, I feel alright.”
The midfielder is firmly back in contention for Rovers now having played almost every minute and has started to look back to his best in recent matches as the Gas look to kick on under Darrell Clarke.
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“It feels good,” Conteh added. “It’s been too long. When I was out, just seeing the boys going out, it hurt me a lot in terms of not being able to make an impact on the pitch or help in terms of playing and stuff but now I’m just buzzing. Training, games, anything I do. I just want to give my 100 per cent and go from there.
“I think everyone who was here at the time saw that I was miles away from who I am as a person in terms of being lively, being bubbly and stuff so now in terms of being back fit I feel like I’m back to who I am and I’m just I just want to keep kicking on every day, you know getting better on and off the pitch.
“I think it’s made me stronger in terms of being able to focus on my body more. In terms of in the gym and in the summer, building fitness back up. I’d say body-wise I’m probably much leaner than I was so it’s just about maintaining that. In terms of on the pitch just doing you know what I was doing before in terms of doing extras, analysing the games back with the staff and just doing one percent’s to get there every day.
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“I’d say for me personally, what I went through in terms of the injury, I wouldn’t wish that on any human being in terms of just the pain that I was in, struggling to walk and just the unknown of not knowing I had a bone infection. Just doing so many scans and stuff, it was tough. A lot of sleepless nights as well. But I’m happy to get through, and yeah, I think the only way is up.”
While Conteh was dealing with his road to recovery, the midfielder did start to become subject to speculation regarding a move away from the club, particularly in the early stages of this summer.
The 22-year-old has been linked with clubs such as Derby County, Cardiff City and Plymouth Argyle in recent months. However, despite the scattering of rumours concerning the Rovers man in national outlets, he remains a Gas player and, with the window due to shut on Monday evening, it currently looks set to stay that way.
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“That’s football at the end of the day,” he said on speculation. “But for me, I’m just focusing on being the best I can be every day and obviously looking forward to the weekend.”
Despite his young age, it isn’t the first time Conteh has been subject to transfer speculation, having been reported to be set for a move to Rovers from Grimsby Town in January 2024. This weekend, the midfielder will return to Blundell Park with the Gas.
He only spent half a season in Lincolnshire, having joined from Middlesbrough in the summer of 2023. The midfielder never made a senior appearance for Boro, but impressed in that National League on loan at Gateshead during the 2022/23 season.
The Mariners have been under the spotlight worldwide since their historic Carabao Cup triumph over Manchester United on Wednesday night, but Conteh and co. are just focusing on themselves ahead of trying to continue their improved recent form.
“Yeah, for me, obviously everyone knows I was there for a period of time,” the 22-year-old stated. “I know a lot of the players well. I know the manager very well and his staff. So it’ll be good to see them, but for me it’s about us and if we can continue the momentum with them on these last couple games, I think we’ll go there and get a good result.
“It’s one of them because I also support United, so I’m a bit annoyed in that sense but apart from that, all jokes aside, it’s good for them but now for me my mindset is to go there to win. That’s it.”
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