In the absence of World Cup hero Jonny Wilkinson, England will be looking to the stand-off to spearhead their summer campaign, starting with the game against the mighty All Blacks on Saturday.
"The last 12 months have been very difficult," Hodgson said.
"You lose contact with the England set-up and what actually goes on.
"But this is another chance for me to get involved again and I am going to give it my best.
"The time out has strengthened me because you have to learn to cope with things like that. You do become mentally stronger.
"The hardest point was knowing what the injury was, how long rehabilitation would take and knowing that I would miss a lot of rugby.
"Another low point was when England won the World Cup. I knew it was something that I might have been involved in at the time. That's one of those things you have to deal with.
"But hopefully all my injuries are behind me and I look forward to the time ahead."
Hodgson made a record breaking England debut in November 2001 when he kicked 44 points in the 134-0 win against Romania, but disaster struck in the 2003 Six Nations campaign when he ruptured knee ligaments at Twickenham against Italy.
It took eight months of hard work and rehabilitation to get back into the game, but it was too late for Charlie to take his place as understudy to Wilkinson for the World Cup.
Manager Sir Clive Woodward said: "It's critical Charlie gets this experience but we're giving him full support with Catt, Tindall and Dawson at hand. It will be a big night for him and his first real big test."
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