MELBOURNE midfielder Lily Mithen is still two weeks away from returning to footy, but has started running in her recovery from ankle surgery.

The lively Demon suffered an ankle syndesmosis injury in a pre-season match against Collingwood when her foot got caught under a Bri Davey tackle. 

WATCH IT LIVE How to follow the AFLW this weekend

Mithen spoke to the Credit to the Girls podcast about Melbourne's undefeated start to the season and some of the challenges she's faced on the sidelines. 

"I've never missed a game I wanted to play in. So, leading into round one, mentally I was struggling with the fact I knew was going to have to sit on the sidelines and watch the girls do it," Mithen said.

I had to put full trust in what they were doing, I couldn't have any influence or impact on the game, so I found that really challenging.

- Lily Mithen

"Also, just not being able to do what you love on a Saturday afternoon, that was a really hard bit, the unknown of how you're going to feel and how you're going to react when you're not able to do something you wanted.

"Then, I guess, not that it'll be a super long time (on the sidelines), but it is quite lonely when the squad's out on the track training and you're in the gym doing cardio and upper body weights."

In this episode… 

Lily Mithen joins the show to discuss Melbourne's strong start to the year and how she's progressing in her return from an ankle injury. Later, host Lucy Watkin discusses the importance of pride round, rounding out with a look at round three.

Episode guide 

1:10 – The good, bad, ugly and unique from round two of the 2020 NAB AFLW season 

5:48 – Injured Melbourne midfielder Lily Mithen joins the show 

10:03 – The generational shift in Melbourne's midfield 

17:48 – Stories of GenW: Mithen takes us behind the scenes of the rehab process 

20:02 – The mental challenges of spending time on the sidelines 

21:55 – Quick hands 

24:49 – Lucy speaks about the importance of Pride Round

27:27 – A look at round three