All Whites striker Chris Wood says his knee injury is something he will have to manage for the rest of his life.
Wood has just returned to action for Nottingham Forest after undergoing knee surgery in December.
He started in their Europa League quarter-final first leg against Porto last weekand is in line to play the second leg this week.
He also played the last 25 minutes of their Premier League draw with Aston Villa on Monday.
“It’s a knee injury, it’s going to take years of managing throughout my whole career and when I’m playing with kids, playing golf or doing whatever I do after football,” said the 34-year-old.
“It’s going be there. I’d say it’s always got to be in your back of mind that I have to keep myself in top shape ready to go.
“A knee injury is always horrible, you never know what could happen in the future or how you are going to come back from it.
“So mentally, that’s one of the tough things to deal with. But I had confidence I was always going to come back. I got very close to returning pre-surgery and it just didn’t happen. That’s just unfortunate.”
