CAROLINE WEIR has admitted that undergoing rehab was a "lonely place" and provided worries as to whether she would return to top form.

The Dunfermline-born, Scotland international spent almost a year on the sidelines after rupturing the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in her left knee whilst playing for her country, against Belgium at Hampden.

Former Dunfermline High School pupil Caroline, 29, returned for her club, Real Madrid, in September and was back involved with the national team last month for their UEFA Women's Euro 2025 play-off semi-final with Hungary.

In the absence of Rachel Corsie, she captained the side in both legs of the tie, and scored in the second leg at Easter Road, as the Scots won 5-0 on aggregate to set up a final with Finland.

Caroline Weir celebrates after scoring for Scotland against Hungary.Caroline Weir celebrates after scoring for Scotland against Hungary. (Image: Craig Foy - SNS Group.)

Victory over two games, to be played on November 29 and December 3, would send Pedro Martinez Losa's side to next summer's tournament in Switzerland, which would be the third major tournament Caroline has represented her country in, having been part of the squads that went to Euro 2017, and the World Cup two years later.

To be in a position to help her team-mates reach another major competition has come after a long road back from injury for the ex-Manchester City, Liverpool and Arsenal star, who married her partner, Josh, in the summer.

After linking up with the national squad for their matches with Hungary, Caroline told the Scotland National Team media channels: "I'd never really had time injured at all - the max was probably two weeks out, with little niggles, nothing serious.

"Then, to go from that to having a serious knee injury and operation, it was a shock.

"I didn't know how I was going to deal with it, what to expect in the rehab - I didn't really know what rehab was, really, which sounds silly but I honestly didn't have a clue what I was in for, which is probably a good thing because it was tough.

"There was some tough moments but, at the same time, there was some good moments too.

"I had time away from football and maybe more time to see family and do other things, so that was nice, but I missed it a lot. I especially missed playing for Scotland. It was a long year.

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"Through the rehab, when you can't walk, you're like 'how the heck am I going to be able to score a goal?'.

"You do have those anxieties and concerns - how am I going to get to that level, but it is a process and you have to trust it, and that's what I've done.

"To have those moments, that's what I love, and that's what I try to make happen, is scoring goals and creating things, so those moments definitely give me confidence.

"It's just about doing them consistently again and trying to help the team win."

Caroline marked her playing return for Real by scoring a double in a 5-0 league win over Espanyol, whilst also finding the net against Celtic in a UEFA Women's Champions League group stage match.

She said that she is now "buzzing" for every match following her injury recovery, continuing: "I feel I'm just appreciating things a little bit more than before and, the way the game has gone, the scheduling for the last four or five years, and especially last year for me, going to Madrid and playing a 50-game season before I was injured, and then starting a new season, was a lot of football.

"You do just go from game to game without really thinking too much about it, whereas now, I'm like every single game, I'm just buzzing to be there and to be around the team.

"That's a big one because rehab's a lonely place and, when I was doing rehab, a lot of the time my schedule didn't match with the team, so I was really in the gym by myself quite a lot.

"Just to be around the team, and be in that team environment, that's something I really missed, so I'm happy to be back in amongst all the banter again."