Barry Fuller returns to Gillingham with unfinished business.

The no-nonsense right-back had his previous spell at the club cut short following a career-threatening knee injury.

He played just 10 times for the Gills in his final season, before undergoing an operation, one where the odds of resurrecting his career were stacked against him. He was given a 35% chance of playing again.

Fuller beat the odds, defied the expectation and advice of the specialists and went onto play another 274 competitive games, including a season at Barnet and then another five at AFC Wimbledon.

“I always wanted to come back,” said the 33-year-old, whose last competitive appearance for the Gills was in a 6-1 victory at Hereford.

It was a joyous day for the Gills, but not for Fuller, who managed to last the 90 minutes, heavily strapped with a burning sensation in his knee.

Unbeknown to him or the club, he had a suffered a posterolateral corner injury, the type of which are more commonly associated with head-on car accidents. His occurred four and a half months earlier, in the final game of the 2010/11 season.

He had been stretchered off in the 4-2 home defeat to Macclesfield, playing just a few minutes of the second half after replacing Simon King - ironically a victim of a serious ankle injury himself, one which was to ruin his professional career.

Despite having scans, the reason for his injury wasn’t picked up and he took part in a full pre-season and played nine games at the start of the following campaign before hobbling through at Hereford.

“I knew there was something going on but the scans showed it was only bone bruising,” Fuller recalled. “I played with it but after games I was crippled. I knew it wasn't right.

“Luckily there was another player going to see a specialist and they took my original scan with them, on the off chance that they could have a look at it.”

It was knee specialist Sam Church who finally picked up on the problem but the diagnosis wasn’t good.

Fuller said: “I remember sitting there in the office with my wife and he told me I would need an op ASAP. I asked how long it would be (for recovery) and he said 12 months. I said ‘you mean 12 weeks?’ He said ‘no, 12 months’. My stomach was in my throat and then from there I knew mentally I had to prepare myself for what would be a long journey.”

An artificial ligament was used to reconstruct the knee and Fuller was told he had a 65% chance of his career finishing, after having an operation.

He spent 12 weeks in a knee brace and began the slow process of recovery. His contract at the Gills had expired over the summer but new manager Martin Allen invited him back for pre-season, one which he was heavily involved in.

A report from the specialist recommended Fuller play no more than 25 games in a season, with his newly constructed knee. And while Allen decided it was a risk he didn’t want to take, former Gills coach Mark Robson - the manager at Barnet - did.

“I had to do two medicals there and they were a little bit worried,” Fuller said. Robson convinced the Barnet chairman to take a punt and Fuller repaid the faith by playing virtually every game that season.

“The specialist just smirked when I told him how many games I played,” said Fuller.

He moved to Wimbledon the following season, becoming a mainstay in their team and captaining the side as they won promotion from League 2, just as he had done for the Gills back in 2009. After over 200 league appearances he was released in the summer.

Fuller, a father of three, wasn't keen on moving from his family home in Ashford, so when Gills boss Steve Lovell came calling, it was the perfect scenario.

He said: “I felt like I left on a downer, missing the last year of my contract through injury. Leaving wasn't my choice. In my head I always felt like I wanted to come back. When the phone rang with the gaffer’s number and he said ‘come in for a meeting’ I jumped at the chance.

“I always felt like there was unfinished business here. This is a local club to me and a club I have always looked out for, I watched them in the play-offs when I was younger and I still get a buzz and feel like I can be a part of taking this club forward on a new journey."

More from Barry Fuller in this week's Medway Messenger as he talks about his craziest match ever - Gills' 7-4 defeat at Accrington.