Chelsea defender Ben Chilwell has thanked the club for supporting him during a difficult season.
Chilwell suffered a serious knee injury in the early part of the season, and was absent since their Champions League win over Juventus in November.
His absence brought a downturn in the club's form, as they are heavily reliant on him and Reece James to provide creativity from the wing back positions.
Chilwell hopes he will be fully fit for pre-season, and came off the bench for the last minutes in their final Premier League game of the season against Watford on Sunday.
"This is the moment that has driven me the past months, getting on that pitch has motivated me to work so hard in the gym," Chilwell said, per the club's website.
"Firstly, I have to thank my family. They have been there the whole time with me. All the staff and the boys have been brilliant as well. The support from everyone has been amazing and that's another thing that has pushed me so much to have such a good recovery and feel so good.
"It's a very tight group. From day one of my injury I've felt the support of the fans, the staff, the players, everyone involved with Chelsea. It's made it a lot easier to get through it and I'm buzzing to be back."
He added on his last day of the season appearance as a substitute: "It must have been deliberate, I don't know, I've not spoken to the manager, but when I came on, he said to me 'you've been brilliant, working so well to get back to where you are'. To come on for him was nice, and what a brilliant season he's had as well.
"There were so many different emotions going through my head when I came on: excitement, nerves, everything. It was an amazing reaction from the fans. It's been a long time since I've been on a football pitch. To get that in before the end of the season is really good, and going into pre-season now I can really kick on.
"Psychologically I know I have had a week training with the boys, I've come on last game of the season and I can really hit the ground running when I come to pre-season," added Chilwell.
"I will have a few weeks off, and then I'm back in. I've got a lot of work to do still. The season is going to come around very quickly. It's important I work hard over the summer to make sure I'm flying for pre-season."
