James Maddison is ready to get straight down to business after a lengthy lay-off and help Tottenham finish a "season to forget" with Premier League safety.
Maddison made his first competitive appearance in 12 months after a serious knee injury during the latter stages of 17th-placed Spurs' 1-1 draw at home to Leeds, which has left the north London club two points above the relegation zone.
During an encouraging cameo role having entered the pitch to enormous noise, the 29-year-old went close to winning a stoppage-time penalty and revealed any concerns over his comeback quickly dissipated.
"It's been a tough season for Tottenham. Really tough for the fans, really tough for the players. Lots of manager changes. It's been a season to forget really. Not being able to affect it and help the club has been difficult," Maddison said.
"Once I was out there and the first 30 seconds to a minute had gone by, it was like 'now I'm on the pitch we need to get a winner here.' The nice moment had gone.
"It was almost straight down to business. I would rather be safe and come on and enjoy and build up slowly, but that's not the situation we are in.
"When you are on the pitch you forget about anything else anyway when the adrenaline kicks in. When you get your first touch it's just another game and I felt really good."
It has been a long road to recovery for Maddison after he suffered a partial tear of his anterior cruciate ligament last May in Spurs' 3-1 win over Bodo/Glimt in the Europa League before a full rupture occurred in a pre-season friendly with Newcastle on August 3.
Maddison added: "In my head it goes back to the Europa League semifinal here when I got injured, because I did a partial ACL tear against Bodo/Glimt. I was told by the [external] specialist it wouldn't need surgery and rehab.
"Then obviously it wasn't strong, it didn't recover properly and I needed the full surgery which is what happened in South Korea.
"That being said, that was still an amazing moment which will live with me forever that reception I got. There have been some dark days in the last year, especially since the surgery.
"It has been a really tough year for me mentally but I'm at the end of the tunnel now so I can kind of look back on that with fondness because I'm as mentally strong as I can be after going through that.
"Physically I feel really good, so the moment personally is something that will live with me forever the reception Spurs fans gave me."
Tottenham boss Roberto De Zerbi frequently talked up Maddison's impact in the dressing room before he was fit enough to feature and the England international admitted he has tried to remind the squad what this dire situation means to the fans.
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"I always try and help," Maddison said.
"Being from this country and knowing what it means for the fans, I can feel that and portray that in a way to players from other countries or who don't speak the language so perfectly or younger players who maybe don't understand as much as I do.
"I just try to help and say whatever I feel will help the team or the individual player."
