Levi Colwill admits he felt “helpless” while injured during Chelsea‘s difficult campaign but believes the arrival of Xabi Alonso means the coming season will be “different”.
The England defender, 23, had just won the Club World Cup and Conference League before he suffered a serious knee injury in pre-season last year.
It meant he featured only four times at the end of a disappointing Blues campaign, as they finish 10th in the Premier League and without a trophy amid managerial turmoil.
“When you can’t do anything to affect the game on the pitch, you feel helpless and that’s how I felt at times,” Colwill said after a pre-season training session in Sydney.
“I had come off winning the Club World Cup feeling on top of the world and then an injury like that happens. It kills everything – kills the momentum – and you’re out for a long time.
“But you’ve got to stay positive. You’ve got to believe in yourself and trust the process, which I’ve done.”
Colwill says he is fully fit again but that it “hurt a lot” to miss Chelsea’s Champions League campaign and, as one of the leaders in the squad, he will “do everything” to help the team return to Europe’s elite.
Having taken part in an open training session in front of supporters, he is preparing to face Western Sydney Wanderers on Tuesday in what will provide the first real glimpse of Alonso’s Chelsea.
“The football he wants us to play is really creative, attacking, free-flowing football and I think you’ll see it tomorrow too,” Colwill continued.
Asked whether Chelsea can compete with Premier League champions Arsenal, he said: “I feel like the players we’ve got in our team are ready to do that.
“With having a manager of this quality now, when it all comes together we’re definitely going to be able to challenge and push for the Premier League.”
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