After a successful World Cup campaign for Mark Sampson's ladies in Canada over the summer, Manchester City returned as a much-improved unit.
Toni was on goalscoring fire...
Toni Duggan, was the club's best player following their summer exploits - and excelled in-front of goal as the sky Blues leapfrogged their rivals into the top two in the FA WSL.
...until injury unfortunately struck
An unfortunate, initially innocuous injury sustained against Liverpool at the end of August saw her miss the final two League fixtures of the campaign, as well as their Continental Cup quarter-final encounter with Arsenal - who ended up as eventual winners of the tournament after a 1-0 win over Nick Cushing's side in Borehamwood.
Since then though, Duggan had been actively undergoing rehab for her ankle injury - returning to full training a few weeks ago.
Eyes on a return
Training with the Developmental side as the first-team's campaign has since ended, she scored twice against both Aston Villa and Liverpool recently, with her goalscoring form certainly not easing up despite her injury.
As quoted by the club's official website, she said that she's "so happy to be back", especially as it has been "tough" being injured, not least at a "crucial time of the season". Admitting that it has been a "difficult" year for her personally, she started 2015 with an injury but credited the club's coaches and physio - who helped her to get back to full fitness.
"I'm hoping to be picked for the England squad now, there's been communication [between City and England] to let them know I'm fully fit. I knew I needed games under my belt to stand any chance of going away with them - you can't just come straight in and play against Germany and then a tough qualifier against Bosnia."
On personal targets for herself to reach: "We sat down and set targets a few weeks ago, which I've been hitting."
Understandably, the forward is also nervous about what to expect. "I've never been so nervous about a squad being released. When I was injured, Mark [Sampson] told me I'm a big part of the squad and their plans - but a lot of girls have been doing well and he's been giving new talent chances."