I'm feeling really good – Sophie Ingle relishing Euros dream after knee injury
Sophie Ingle, centre, during a Wales training session at the Sportanlage Guttingersreuti, Lauligstrasse in Switzerland (Nick Potts/PA)
Speaking before the Lucerne clash, Ingle told Sky Sports: 'I've probably got a stronger knee than before, which is the crazy thing.
'That's already hard to process in your mind. It's definitely mentally (tougher) than physically. 'Can I do it? Can I get back to the level I was at?'
'You go through all those stages, but I'm very laid back and had full confidence in my medical team. That fully helps and it's paid off now I'm here.
'A lot of the girls have said to me over the last few days they can't believe I've been out nine months and look basically the same as before.
'I'm just pushing every single day and, whatever role I'm needed, I'll be there for the team. I'm feeling really good, which is the main thing.'
Ingle revealed how a Christmas card from the Football Association provided extra motivation for her to make Rhian Wilkinson's 23-strong squad in Switzerland.
She said: 'The FAW sent out a Christmas card of our photo when we qualified, the whole team, and there were a few words inside.
'So I put it up on my kitchen shelf. Every time I was in the kitchen that evening I'd look up, and that was just always my focus to get back for this tournament.
'Once the girls qualified in December, that was then my aim, to do everything I could to be in with a chance of getting selected.
'Then, once I got selected it was such a special feeling that all that hard work and those lonely days on your own in the gym kind of paid off.'
Ingle is currently without a club after her second spell at Chelsea ended in May following seven trophy-filled years in west London.
But the 33-year-old remains a standard-bearer for Welsh football, leading the national team 83 times between 2015 and 2024.
Ingle said: 'I think us qualifying for the Euros helped my recovery, to have an aim in place.
'I always had the mentality that if I don't make it, at least I've tried and I've done everything that I can.
'They always say on average, it's nine to 12 months (to recover from an ACL injury), but it all depends on your body, how your surgery went, what actually was wrong with your knee.'
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