England captain Millie Bright says it was “amazing” to return to training with Women’s Super League club Chelsea after a five-month injury absence.
The defender has been absent since November with a knee issue.
“Just to be out there screaming at players again, it was nice to be back on the grass and back with the team,” she told the Women’s Football Weekly podcast.
Bright hasn’t played for the Lionesses since August’s World Cup final defeat.
They lost 1-0 to Spain in Sydney.
She said: “[During] injury, it’s probably the hardest thing, you feel so distant from everyone. Even as hard as you try to stay connected, you do feel like a bit of an outsider.”
Bright said the “mental challenge” of dealing with injury had been “extremely difficult”.
The Chelsea captain watched from the sidelines as they lost the League Cup final 1-0 to Arsenal on 31 March and were beaten 2-1 by Manchester United in the FA Cup semi-final last Sunday.
She said: “There are days where you just want to scream and I just want to run to get rid of my anger or my frustration. Rehab’s not the easiest thing – it doesn’t always go the way we want it to go.
“The goal never changes so the off-pitch stuff for me was all about rehab and doing things at home that just help.”
Bright says she has done everything possible to achieve “all the small percentages” in assisting her recovery.
“I think I’ve probably drove my agent insane by having to say no to a million things but for me my priority – even when I’m playing – is to be like ‘rehab, go home, walk the dogs’ and that’s it,” she added.
“Some days, I didn’t even walk the dogs because it was more beneficial for me to come in fresher the next day.”
Cuthbert and Charles ‘are real leaders’
Scotland midfielder Erin Cuthbert, 25, and England defender Niamh Charles, 24, have shared the captaincy in Bright’s absence.
“It’s a hard job and I don’t think people appreciate how hard leading is until you’re put in that position,” Bright said.
“For them at their age to grab a hold of the team and really drive them through this season has been incredible and they are the real leaders in the team.”
Missing out on trophies ‘a reality check’
Chelsea had been in contention for a quadruple, but now they can only win a maximum of two trophies in Emma Hayes’ final season in charge, after their League Cup and FA Cup defeats.
They remain in the running for the WSL title and play Barcelona in the semi-finals of the Champions League, with their first leg taking place in Spain on Saturday.
“I think that’s our biggest learning,” Bright said. “One minute you’re talking about the quadruple and it being the best season ever and all of a sudden it’s ‘whoa, we’re only competing for two trophies now’. You do have to swiftly move on and take learnings from it.”
Bright said their FA Cup defeat was the harder one to take.
“I think we were definitely more disappointed with the FA Cup because of the manner in which we lost,” she said.
“By our standards, on and off the ball was definitely not our best. Yes, we still had chances but at this level, you just can’t go 2-0 down that quickly.”
