From unwelcome flashbacks last weekend to a hopeful flash forward to the summer - Savannah McCarthy wants to make up for lost time and be a part of Ireland's World Cup adventure.
McCarthy didn't just injure her ACL 13 months ago, but also her LCL and MCL, in a collision with a Galway team-mate at Eamonn Deacy Park.
Coincidentally the 26-year-old made her comeback off the bench at the same venue last Saturday in her debut for new club Shamrock Rovers in a 1-1 draw.
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"It was great, just a relief to get those first minutes under my belt," said McCarthy.
"In the week leading up to the game I was thinking, 'oh my God, this is where it happened'. I was trying to just focus on my first pass, my first involvement but I did have flashbacks.
"It was a long road back and I'm glad to be at the end of it. It was a horrible injury."
McCarthy's knee shattered in that incident in March 2022. She had already come back from a torn meniscus that was initially diagnosed as a quad injury, and that added months onto her recovery time. But this was different, given the complexity of the injuries suffered.
The lowest point in the unfortunate episode was hearing the news and that she faced a year out.
"Honestly, it was heartbreaking," she recalled.
"It was a bad time in my career, obviously, a big setback. I was doing well with the club and had got into the Ireland squad so it was a hard one to swallow with the year that was in it.
"It was a case of trying to stay positive but there were good and bad days. It was about having little improvements every day in the gym, about trying to come back better than when it happened."
Signing for Rovers ahead of the new season was a massive boost, especially as she had previously worked with Jason Carey, Rovers' new head of women's football.
McCarthy was impressed by the club's objectives for the new women's squad and the playing personnel brought on board.
"Being around the culture in the Rovers dressing-room, it helped me," she said, adding that she did most of her rehab in Kerry.
McCarthy currently commutes from home to Tallaght three or four times a week but knows she will have to make a decision on moving closer to Tallaght or continuing as she is.
"But making the move was a no-brainer," she insisted.
The messages of encouragement she received from Vera Pauw were also welcome, who has kept McCarthy in the loop.
She had established herself in Pauw's plans before the injury and game time will be key as she tries to make the plane to Australia.
"Since I was a little girl my dream has been to play in a World Cup and to get over there, for me now it's about getting as many minutes and games as I can in for Rovers, to get myself back into Ireland's home based sessions and go from there," she said.
"It's realistic. I have three months. I know it's going to be really, really difficult in terms of the players that are in there now and the limited time I have, I know that. But I could never say never about my chances."
Next up is a home clash with Bohemians.
"It's going to be the first time they'll come up against each other and the more times we meet, the fixture will just get bigger and bigger," McCarthy commented.
"That's what we want but it's also just another game and that's the mindset we have to have, it's about the three points. For me, now it's about enjoying it and let's see what happens."
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