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Joe Gomez spent a long time beating himself up after playing through an injury that ended up ruling him out of the Champions League final and the World Cup.
The 21-year-old looked bound for Russia after establishing himself as an important member of the Liverpool squad and breaking into Gareth Southgate’s senior squad.
Gomez marked his first England start with a man-of-the-match display against Brazil.
However, an ankle complaint forced the defender off just 10 minutes into his second international start against the Netherlands, and he compounded the problem by playing through the pain on his Liverpool return.
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Gomez faced West Brom but it was the 90 minutes against Stoke that were particularly costly, with his desire to make up for a poor display leading to damage that required a season-ending operation.
“You have got to listen to your body,” Gomez said. “That was a marker for me to take it easy and learn.
“It just wasn’t meant to be. I had a long period where I was beating myself up.
“I was replaying it over in my mind. I kept thinking I should have done something to stop things going the way they did. But it’s done now.
“I’m over it. Hindsight is a beautiful thing.”
Gomez’s summer was spent in rehab rather than in Repino, with the defender watching the England matches from home as he looked to be fit for pre-season.
Getting back for Liverpool kept his mind from wandering, while the scenes during England’s run to the World Cup semi-finals provided extra motivation.
“It was tough, I won’t lie, seeing the team do so well,” Gomez said ahead of Saturday’s Nations League clash with Spain, live on Sky Sports.
“As a fan I was buzzing and at the same time, it was tough that I missed out. Anyone who was in the squad would have felt that way.
“After that point I just wanted them to do well, I knew it wasn’t meant to be, just get on with it and use it as motivation.”