BRAD'S BETTER

7:00am Friday 21st March 2008

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LEAN Lee Bradbury is hoping to add weight to Cherries' relegation battle after losing half a stone during an eventful spell on the sidelines.

Bradbury is in contention to hit the comeback trail at Gillingham tomorrow after being laid low by a debilitating viral infection for a fortnight.

The 32-year-old, a regular migraine sufferer, has missed the past three games after collapsing at the team hotel on the eve of Cherries' clash at Leeds.

Bradbury told the Daily Echo: "It was a scary time. I had a migraine on the Thursday before the Leeds game and couldn't train. I couldn't sleep or drive and my vision had gone. The doctor gave me some tablets and I felt better on the Friday so travelled with the rest of the squad.

"But after we had arrived at the hotel, I had a funny turn. I went to bed and was sweating, cold, shaking and had muscle spasms. I got up to go to the toilet and collapsed on the floor.

"I was in a room on my own and, fortunately, the door was on the latch. I was hanging out of the doorway and was calling for help. Steve (Hard) the physio heard me and found me on the floor.

"He got in touch with a doctor who said to take me to hospital. They said I had a viral infection and gave me lots of different tablets.

"I came back on the coach on the Saturday night and started training earlier this week. To start with, I still felt a bit weak because it takes it out of you.

"But I've trained for the past couple of days and am pretty much feeling myself again. I'm looking to try to get in the squad for Gillingham because it is a massive game for us."

Like Cherries, Bradbury is hoping for a change of fortunes at Gillingham. The Dorset club will be seeking its first win at Priestfield since 1983, while Bradbury has never tasted success at the venue.

He added: "It has never been a great place for me and I also broke my foot there once. They seem to be in a bit of a mess financially and I think they are struggling to stay out of administration.

"But we've got to look after ourselves and can't be worrying about them. We've got to get as many wins as we can because we don't want to leave it until our last game of the season at Carlisle.

"It could go to the wire but I think we'll get the wins. You've got to be optimistic. As professionals, we've got to believe we've got a chance to win every game and all our fixtures are winnable.

"We've got to play a couple of the teams around us in our next three games so we need to get seven points from those games and then see where we are at the start of April. As long as it's there for us to still do it, we're going to give it our best shot. That's all we can do."