“I LOVE the game and I’ve missed it so much over the last two years.”

It’s no surprise where Sam Docherty has set his sights ahead of the upcoming pre-season.

The Carlton co-captain was sorely missed for the second consecutive season in 2019, with an ACL injury once again seeing him sidelined.

After taking on a coaching role in 2019, the 2017 All Australian said - while he has enjoyed coaching - his sights are set on playing the game he loves.

“Transitioning back into playing, I’ve missed footy a lot,” Docherty said on RSN’s Inner Sanctum.

“In the first year, I always had the ‘I’ll come back a year after’ mentality. The 12 months out of the game were long, but it didn’t absolutely fry me.

“This year, in the back half of the year, I’ve really missed playing.”

While growing his game off the field, Docherty has seen his younger teammates flourish on it.

The last time Docherty featured in an AFL game, Sam Petrevski-Seton had just finished his first season, Harry McKay had played two games and NAB AFL Rising Star Sam Walsh was more than a year away from just being drafted.

Looking ahead, Docherty said he couldn’t wait to run out alongside the players who he has watched develop over the last 24 months.

“I’m coming back into something where I don’t feel the pressure and the weight of the work,” he said.

“I’m excited that the group I was with have now grown up.”

While he was immersed in a full pre-season from day one last year, Docherty said the Club will take a more conservative approach as he eyes a Round 1 return in 2020.

However, when quizzed about whether or not his thoughts were on an injury recurrence, he said his focus was solely on assisting the Carlton Football Club winning games of football.

“I don’t tend to waste my time thinking about it. I know I’ve put in everything I possibly can to get it right,” he said.

“I’m not going back to be spectacular — I’m going back to play a role for the team so we win games of footy.

“I think our group is set up that if we have enough guys with that mindset, we can do a really special thing in the next few years.”