VANCOUVER — Darren Mattocks is back on the soccer field, seemingly none the worse for wear but a little sheepish about a freak cooking accident that put his debut Major League Soccer season on hold six weeks ago.

“I was cooking and the oil splashed on my arm,” the speedy Vancouver Whitecaps striker said Monday after his first training session with the club since mid-March. “It's a bit awkward. My hand caught the handle of the pot and it spilled over on my arm.”

Mattocks, from Portmore, Jamaica, was cooking a Jamaican chicken dish on his own when the mishap occurred and he spent a week in hospital recovering from burns to his right arm and shoulder.

Family and friends from Jamaica arrived to support Mattocks in Vancouver within days of the accident and his mother is still in town.

“That was really good for them to be around for a couple of months,” Mattocks said. “That's huge for me.”

He recently spent six days in Jamaica visiting family and friends and assured them he has fully recovered from the burns.

“It's 100-per-cent healed,” Mattocks said. “It's like nothing ever happened.”

The second overall pick in the this year's Major League Soccer SuperDraft might be cleared for full-contact training this week and hopes to play for the Whitecaps again in about two weeks.

He said it has been agonizing to be on the sidelines while his teammates train and play.

"I want to play my part,” Mattocks said. “It was really a pain [to just watch] because I love to play the game. To be out for so long is not really good.”

The 21-year-old former Akron University star showed a nice scoring touch in pre-season play this year and the Caps — who have played well but scored just seven goals in eight games — could use Mattocks' pace up front.

Head coach Martin Rennie said Mattocks looks very fit now, despite his six-week layoff, and expects him back in the lineup soon.

“[It shouldn't be] long because he's very fit and very sharp,” he said. “It just depends on how sharp he gets on the ball but fitness-wise, I don't think it will be a problem.”

bconstantineau@vancouversun.com

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