Malcolm Delpeche has vowed to return fitter and stronger after thanking the Newcastle Eagles family for their support and well wishes during one of the most difficult periods of his career.

The fan favourite forward suffered a season-ending knee injury in Bristol last month and underwent surgery last week.

The early prognosis is positive and Delpeche intends to begin his rehab on Tyneside as soon as he gets the all clear from the club’s medical staff.

“I’ve never suffered a serious injury before and I suppose the first emotion I felt when I went down against the Flyers was fear,” he explained.

“I knew it wasn’t good but I didn’t know what it was. It was the fear of the unknown. I just wanted to find out what had happened.

“Now that I’ve had a couple of weeks to reflect on the situation I can start to focus on the next step, which is rehab.

“The club has been so generous and supportive and our fans have been amazing. I’ve been reminded of this wonderful community that I’m part of and it makes a huge difference to know that Eagles fans have been rooting for me.

“I’ve always said that Newcastle supporters are the best in the country and they keep proving it time and time again.”

Delpeche is already an SLB Trophy winner this season and he remains confident that his team mates can go on to scoop more silverware before the summer.

“Depth has been our strength all season and I know we have enough guys out there to do the job for the rest of the season,” he added.

“Even though me and Mike have gone down in the last few weeks we’ve seen how other players are ready to step up — I’m thinking of someone like Christian James who was magnificent in the first half against Bakken on Tuesday.

“As a team we have a lot of tools and there’s so much basketball still to come from this roster.

“Newcastle has shown they belong at the top again — whether that’s at home or in Europe — and whether we’re one player short or three guys short it doesn’t change that.”

Delpeche hopes to be courtside for Newcastle’s homecourt clash against Bristol this weekend and will be leading the support when the Eagles host Bakken in Tuesday’s ENBL quarter-final second leg.