Benjamin Mendy is confident the best is still to come for him at Manchester City after admitting that he has been stung by comments about his injury record over his first two seasons at the club.
The left-back appeared for the third game in a row when he came off the bench during the Carabao Cup win at Preston in midweek, but he had managed just 23 appearances in his first two seasons at City as he battled injuries.
Mendy has been sidelined by two separate serious knee injuries, as well as other minor problems, which have ruled him out of more than 80 games for the Blues since his £49million move from Monaco in 2017.
“It was very difficult. I started after some injuries, stopped, came back, stopped," the Frenchman said of his disrupted first two seasons in Manchester.
"In the summer I stayed in Barcelona with the doctor and the medical team; that was my best decision. Now, I have come back, I feel very good and strong.
"In the moment it was not easy because I understand some people were saying 'he never plays' or something like that. I understand, I know some said this.
"Now I'm back and I want to give everything for this club and this team. I came here to do this. I knew what I could give to this team and I was sad because I lost the time but it's like this. I can do nothing about my injury, now I forget the past, and I focus on the present and the future.”
Despite his injuries Mendy remained a jovial presence around the club and he was often snapped on social media joking with his teammates.
While he continued to encourage his teammates, they also helped to see the Frenchman through his injury hell.
“Every day my teammates were encouraging me," said Mendy. "They talked to me every day; some messages, some phone calls, we saw each other, and we had a very good atmosphere.
"It's not like because of my injury I stayed in the background or something. I stayed with the players. I'm like that, but my teammates they are all the time open to me if I need something, or need to speak, and they helped me a lot.”