Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk says there were positives to come from his knee injury.
Van Dijk suffered the setback in 2020 in a clash with Everton goalkeeper Jordan Pickford.
The 32-year-old told de Volksrant: "I never wanted to experience that injury. A knee injury is a mental blow for a footballer. I'm happy to be where I am again, after all the hard work.
"The injury also did me a lot of good, even immediately after the operation. I went abroad with my family for seven weeks. We had the best time of our lives together. I will never forget that it has made me so much stronger mentally.
"I can put things into perspective more easily. It is not that football is just a game, but other things are more important, such as family and health."