Sam Saunders wants to be as close to ready as he can be for the start of pre-season and will be working through the summer to make it happen.
The Brentford attacking midfield player picked up a calf injury when playing for Wycombe Wanderers in the Sky Bet League Two Play-Off Final.
The 31-year-old spent the end of 2014/15 on loan at the Buckinghamshire club and helped them to the Wembley final.
But he picked up an injury seconds in to the match that meant he had to be taken off and watch Wycombe concede an equaliser in the last minute of extra time and then lose the penalty shoot-out when they looked set for League One.
Sam said the injury came as a surprise as he had no problems when warming up but he knew it was bad.
He said he was now looking to recover from the problem.
“I had tightness in the calf in the week before and I thought it might get tighter as the game went on but the warm-up was fine, there were no problems,” said Sam.
“The ball was played to me, I pushed off and felt an explosion in my calf.
“I was in shock and denial.
“I tried to get up but it felt like I had been shot by a sniper from the crowd.
“It was devastating, I don’t seem to have much luck at Wembley.
“It was nice to get a run of games, I played 13/14 games and was playing some good stuff.
“I was feeling really good.
“It’s never ideal to get injured but at least it is over the summer and I am not missing any more football.
“I just have to get on with it, do my work and be as close to ready as I can at the start of pre-season.”
Sam – along with Nico Yennaris – joined Wycombe on loan in late February.
Sam made just five substitute appearances for The Bees in 2014/15 after missing the start of the campaign with a knee problem that affected the end of his 2013/14 season.
He said he needed to get out on loan and get the buzz of playing matches again.
He said he considered it a successful move overall.
“I needed the loan,” said Sam.
“I came back after being out for a long time and the boys were flying.
“I made a few appearances and felt I did OK.
“I felt I warranted more of an opportunity than I got and I told the management that
“They understood my frustration and I asked to go out on loan.
“I got some needed game time, I think I played more in two and a half months at Wycombe than I did in the past 18.
“I was playing 90 minutes, which was nice.
“I got the three o’clock buzz back – as a player you train hard and to not play means there is disappointment at the end of every game when you haven’t played as long as you’d like.
“It’s nice to get the buzz back and to play for three points.
“It helped sort my head out, I got minutes in to my knee that I needed after the operation.
“Injuries happen but apart from getting injured it was a successful loan.
“I felt I was starting to show what I was capable of.”
Sam said he wanted to win promotion at Wycombe and was disappointed it didn’t happen.
He said he especially felt for the contracted players at Wycombe who had played so well all season to get to that stage.
“It was disappointing,” said Sam.
“Brentford is always my club but when you put on a shirt you want to help.
“I was a Wycombe player and I was there to get them promoted.
“I wanted it for them.
“They had such a small tight-knit group.
“I was disappointed for myself, not being able to perform, but it would have been better if they had won.”
While Sam was in Buckinghamshire, Brentford were reaching the Sky Bet Championship Play-Offs.
They lost in the Semi-Final to Middlesbrough, falling to a 3-0 loss in the North East after losing 2-1 at Griffin Park, conceding a last-minute goal.
Sam said he thought Middlesbrough deserved to win but Brentford needed credit for finishing fifth in the Championship a year after winning promotion from League One.
“The lads were disappointed,” said Sam.
“They felt a bit short on the occasion.
“The last minute goal at Griffin Park was a big sucker punch which we didn’t deserve.
“Middlesbrough could sit more than if it was 1-1.
“Middlesbrough deserved to go through, they were really strong and we were short on the evening.
“The boys deserve credit for how they performed through the season and to get to within touching distance of the Play-Off Final in the first season is superb.
“We will look to push on again.”
There are changes at Griffin Park this summer with Marinus Dijkhuizen arriving as Head Coach, with Phil Giles and Rasmus Ankersen appointed as Co-Directors of Football.
Mark Warburton left his post as Brentford Manager after 18 months, along with his assistant David Weir, and Sam said the players wished the departing pair well.
But he said changes were part of football and he had seen a lot since he arrived at Brentford in 2009.
Sam said the players will get a chance to impress and he expected the Club to continue the upward trajectory it had been on since he arrived six years ago.
“It’s football, it happens, managers and players come and go,” he said.
“I have had changes since I have been here but the Club has always pushed on.
“The boys wish Mark and David well, the Club is in a better position than when they took over.
“We now look to kick on another level.
“One of the first questions I asked was whether we would all get an opportunity and a clean slate and I was told we would.
“The squad will be strengthened but the Head Coach will pick the team.
“I didn’t play as much as I would like last year so I can come back pre-season and impress him and his coaching staff.
“All of us are on a level playing field and that can only bode well for training.
“We will all want the shirt.
“Pre-season is there to get fit, I won’t be running at the start but I know all the lads will come back in good shape.
“Everyone will try and impress the gaffer.”
Sam said he thought expectations of Brentford would have risen ahead of the 2015/16 season but the players could handle it.
“We won’t be an unknown quantity as we were last year, but everyone respects us,” he said.
“At the back end of last season teams were sitting off and playing one up front.
“The Championship will be tough, we know we have to improve.
“It will be a tough season, maybe the expectation levels have risen but the boys have shown they can handle big games and big occasions.”
A full video interview with Sam Saunders is available here for Bees Player subscribers.