Chelsea left-back Ben Chilwell missed out on the 2022 World Cup with a hamstring injury.
He has admitted the station affected him, but he did not have to go through the trying period alone.
His teammate Reece James also missed the tournament in Qatar through a knee injury.
However, the pair are fit now and have received call-ups for England’s latest round of international games.
James and Chilwell are a part of the Three Lions squad that will face Italy and Ukraine as they begin their 2024 European Championship qualifying campaign.
Chilwell explained how he and James dealt with the mentally challenging period together.
Chilwell said (via The Evening Standard): “Weirdly, it was nice that we had each other during that time as it was someone you could share the pain of missing a World Cup with.
“We were at a training camp in Abu Dhabi with Chelsea for the knockout games. I was cheering the team on. We watched it as a team.
“We put it up in the hotel and sat down after dinner to watch the games every night. Of course, when you have a lot of different nationalities and players supporting different teams.
“All the banter was in light-hearted nature. It was nice to watch the games together. Me and Reece helped each other and we are both stronger and playing well with our clubs at the moment.”
Chilwell has not played for England for a while now.
Before the hamstring injury that stopped him from making the World Cup, he had to deal with an anterior cruciate ligament injury that ruled him out of action for months.
Chilwell also missed the 2021 European Championship, contracting COVID-19 from then-Chelsea teammate Billy Gilmour.
The former Leicester City has defender had to battle these setbacks to reach where he is. He spoke to a therapist to help him and advised his colleagues to do the same.
Chilwell has regained his place in the Chelsea team and has been one of their better players in recent weeks.
