Manchester City midfielder Nigel de Jong says he'll be stronger for last season's campaign.
De Jong endured a difficult first few months, before closing the season in great form.
He told the Manchester Evening News: "I'm a player who goes fully into the duals but even suggesting that I deliberately go in with the intention of injuring an opponent is preposterous.
"It's simply I want to win and that feeling is deep in me and nobody can get that out of me.
"As a footballer you have to always be true to yourself and don't be influenced by other things. My current playing style was a planned decision in my career. At Ajax it was all about technique but when I went to HSV then that broke down because of my physical shortcomings.
"In the Premier League it's even more physical than the Bundesliga and as a small player I have to compete with really big, stronger players. So I had to prepare myself for this by doing a lot of power training but more important I had to play smarter. In England it isn't sensible to be running and flying about in the midfield because if you do that then you'll drown.
"You have to learn how to read the match, be clever in one's positional play and only then can you win the battle in midfield. It's very important because otherwise you can't keep going during the intensive season in England.
"This was without a doubt a heavy season and the most intensive of my whole career."