Darren Powell was focused on one thing as he strode onto the Selhurst turf for Palace’s first play-off semi-final in 2004: playing a part in his club’s promotion.
Seven months earlier, he’d been sidelined by a thigh strain deep between two muscles that was near-impossible to treat.
Shortly afterwards, new manager Iain Dowie and sport psychologist John Harbin took over at Palace and implemented a gruelling change of routine.
From the medical room, Powell’s journey to the pitch suddenly became a lot more demanding.
“Every time I would get myself back to the level to train at, I would break down again,” Powell recalls.