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. 

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.

"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."