Everton pair Izzy Christiansen and Hayley Raso have opened up on their injury issues and disappointments during their careers, with both encountering issues in recent years.
It has been a fine start to the WSL campaign this season, with Everton sat fourth in the standings with seven matches played - just three points shy of early pacesetters Manchester United.
However, both players have seen their career paths hit difficult points in recent years and have now spoken about the impact those setbacks had.
Christiansen missed out on a spot in England's squad for the 2019 World Cup in France after painstakingly working her way back from injury, which represented a major disappointment and led her to turn to alcohol that summer.
“I didn’t know what the staff were thinking or feeling or doing – because I’d been so well looked after, I kind of thought I was being prepared to go," she told BBC Sport's The Players Podcast.
"They’d waited on me hand and foot, rehab was vigorous and intense. I thought, ‘all of this must be tailored towards something'.
"Then I was off on a weekend and got a phone call to say, ‘you’re not going to be going, you’re on standby.’ I was a mess. I turned my phone off for a week. I threw the toys out the pram. I was like, ‘I don’t want to do anything. I have the summer off, what am I going to do?’ I don’t feel afraid to say… ‘I just want to drink’.
"When we’d won the Champions League, Lyon had given us a magnum of Champagne, which got drunk. That was nice. Then I ended up going to Lisbon on a four-day bender.”
While that victory with Lyon should have been a highlight of her career, Christiansen also struggled with being a part of those celebrations having missed the campaign.
“It was hard when we won the trophy. I was buzzing that we’d won but it was really weird for me personally. I was telling myself, ‘you’re a nobody and you’ve not been part of this. You don’t deserve this.’
"I didn’t even get a picture of myself with the trophy, which is horrible. I just didn’t feel worthy. If I could go back and relive that moment I’d be different."
Raso, meanwhile, faced a lengthy spell sidelined due to injury with a broken back and opened up about the traumatic experience she faced when sustaining the injury.
“I spent time learning to walk again, learning to do everything again. It was tough. I didn’t think I’d ever be able to run again, let alone play soccer.
“It was the most excruciating pain I’ve ever felt in my life. I was screaming for help because I knew something really bad had happened.
“I was being moved around, but now that I look back on it I know that wasn’t the right thing, with a spinal injury. The whole process, getting me off the field, into a locker room, into an ambulance, was really traumatic. It was really tough, really painful.”
