London City Lionesses midfielder Daniëlle van de Donk called last season her "hardest season ever" following recurrent injuries that ruled her out of much of the campaign and admitted that she hasn't closed the book on her international career just yet.
The Dutch international joined the club last summer while still carrying a knock and despite consistent rehab, struggled with relapses in her recovery and reinjuring her calf. She barely played in the London club's debut season in the top flight following their promotion.
"I don't really know how to describe last year because that was just knock after knock. That was just my hardest season ever I would say. You want to play so badly and every time you're kind of back, you have something else again. You're at step one again, you have to do it all over again. And that was just not once, it was maybe like five, six times," she told ESPN.
"That was very, very hard. And I think people around me -- the team kind of knows how hard it was, but I think if we'd ask my wife or my family, they've seen it from a close up, if that makes sense. So that makes you super grateful for when you are able to train.
"You can go in a mood sometimes with training -- 'I'm tired today or whatever.' It's human. You get that once in a while. And now if I hear it or if my motivation's a little bit bad, I'm like 'nah. I'm so happy. I'm so grateful I can be on the pitch.' It's really a mind change."
- Alexia Putellas 'hungry to win' after London City move
- One question each big WSL club should ask themselves
- WSL fixtures: London City's Alexia Putellas to make WSL debut against Man United
The current injuries made her recovery harder than more long-term injuries due to the mental struggles with doubting your body and the highs and lows of returning to play and getting injured again.
"I think all the time I knew what went wrong because you're going to doubt your body at the moment because why does it keep happening to me. And then you look at all the things, it's maybe my program, coming back to a return to play. Is it too heavy? So you start a bit looking at everything and you adjusted because they don't know because I was new here.
"You kind of have to find a way together and it's just sad that it took long. But there's also things that they can't help and it was my body. It was a bit of everything.
"If I think back of it, you can get so down mentally, sad, of course, and doubting yourself. And then as soon as you're on the pitch, you're just your happy self again. It's crazy."
The rollercoaster, as she described it, almost meant that at points, van de Donk didn't know if she would get back to playing.
"[Rehab] didn't work for me somehow. I think I played maybe 60 minutes, one game and then 30 minutes maybe, then another injury again. And then I tried maybe two. I haven't played many minutes and every time something happens, you doubt yourself. You doubt your body and you just don't know what's right or wrong anymore. So yeah, it's like a rollercoaster all the time in a way. You can't get off. It's just crazy because you have so many highs, so many lows, it was wild."
The Netherlands also have a shot at making it to the 2027 World Cup in Brazil next summer, though the team still need to qualify.
The 35-year-old is not paying too much attention to next summer, simply wanting to make it through preseason, to the first game of the season and so on. But the door is not shut on a possible feature in Brazil if the team make it.
"I'm very open with the national team, they know exactly what I think about it. Before I said, 'No, I'm not going. It's finished for me.' But I spoke with the national team coach and basically the door is a little bit open, but he knows because having gone through such a [difficult] year, he knows I want to go game by game and see how I feel. He respects that.
"I had to keep the door open a little bit for him because he's obviously not going to work as someone who doesn't want to go to the World Cup. I definitely haven't closed that book. If there's an opportunity, I really want to go, but it feels so far away for me.
"I'm looking at preseason and don't want to really look further than that so he knows, and whenever it comes closer, I'm sure we'll speak about it more and more."
The midfielder admitted that she now feels good and more in tune with her body, but she is still taking things game by game, even in preseason.
The former OL Lyonnes player said that, under normal circumstances, she wouldn't overthink every step when preparing for a new season. However, given her injury history, she is simply excited to be back on the grass while taking things slowly and prioritising her body's well-being.
"I look for the first WSL game. That would be my goal. But now it's just the next friendly, the next training session, I'm super happy. It's different. But it's also kind of nice," she added.
"I'm super excited. But for me, I still look game by game or day by day because I just want to protect myself. I don't really set goals. For me now, I have in my head preseason and I love to have a preseason. I work hard and everything. And if I can get through it surely I can make it."