Harrison keen to lift ALW Wanderers

Back in familiar territory at Western Sydney, forgotten Matildas midfielder Amy Harrison is ready to remind the A-League Women of her quality.

The 26-year-old has returned to Australia after two years at Dutch powerhouse PSV Eindhoven.

"I loved it over there but I needed to be back home for a little bit," Harrison told AAP.

"Just be back around friends and family again, be back home, which is Western Sydney and hopefully get the club back to where it should be.

"With a World Cup on the horizon, every player wants to be there.

"I'm just trying to focus on enjoying football again, I lost a bit of love for it towards the end of the season over there.

"So it's just about knuckling down and having fun again, and being at home I know I will get that."

Harrison believes she is a far better player than when she excelled in the Wanderers' run to a debut finals campaign in 2019-20, largely due to the challenges football in the Dutch Eredivisie.

"They're very tactical, you've really got to solve the game," she said.

"It's never just 'go out there and try your best', it's always about how to win, it's always about solving situations.

"Also that extra technical piece - they love the ball, they love playing with it, and a lot of physicality. Hopefully being here I can put it all together.

"At PSV, we had (former Manchester United and Real Madrid forward) Ruud van Nistelrooy coming in to do pre-match talks.

"When you're learning off people like him, it's impossible not to learn."

Harrison was desperately unlucky in Eindhoven, testing positive for COVID-19 three times.

Her brutal second bout hit just as she had earned a Matildas recall for a friendly against Ireland in September 2021.

"It wasn't good timing with the national team," she said. "I was meant to go, then tested positive and for months I was testing positive.

"It knocked me around a fair bit physically, it took a while to get my lungs back going.

"It had a bit of an effect on me unfortunately but it just takes time to get back."

Harrison picked up a little hip concern in pre-season but is confident she can fire under new coach Kat Smith.

The Wanderers kick off their season away against Newcastle at Scully Park on Saturday.

"There's definitely some really positive signs," Harrison said.

"We've had a few friendly games and really positive results and if we can tap into the potential that we have in the team, we can do really well."