Hector Bellerin reflected on an emotional comeback for Arsenal as the defender put months of injury frustration behind him to return for the Gunners on Tuesday night.
Bellerin suffered a season-ending ACL knee injury against Chelsea on January 22, and underwent months of rehabilitation on the long road to recovery.
The Spain international revealed the anguish he went through early on in his rehab, waking up and fearing that he had suffered a setback after experiencing a spasm in his leg which thankfully proved not to be harmful.
Bellerin returned to first-team training earlier in September and played for the club again for the first time last Friday, lining up with Kieran Tierney - another Arsenal full-back returning from injury - against Wolves' Under-23 side.
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Bellerin was deemed fit enough for a place on Unai Emery's bench for Tuesday night's Carabao Cup tie against Nottingham Forest, and replaced Tierney with 13 minutes of the match remaining and Arsenal two goals to the good.
The full-back made an immediate impact as he saw a shot blocked before pulling the ball across goal for Joe Willock to finish, with Bellerin wheeling away in delight after his assist.
Willock and the rest of Bellerin's team-mates ran over the celebrate with him, and the Gunners went on the pad the scoreline with a 5-0 victory.
Bellerin took to Twitter after the game to reveal his delight at making his long-awaited comeback, writing: "No words. Just pure emotion!!!
"What a way to come back. Shout out to @RobHolding95!! Thank you everyone for the support and love".
Tierney, who made his Arsenal debut, was also in high spirits after the match, writing on Twitter: "Thank you so much for all your support... very grateful. Great feeling making my debut!"
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