Kit takes it a day at a time with WSL leaders United up next

Kit Graham is looking to 'show resilience' against Barclays Women's Super League leaders Manchester United on Sunday - something she's become accustomed to in the last 18 months.

The talented forward, 27, returned from 15 months on the sidelines in our FA Cup tie against Reading at the end of February. Since then, she's built up her appearances, all off the bench, as she continues her return to action by taking it a day at a time.

Kit picked up her first assist of the campaign on the biggest stage in Saturday, threading a pass through for Bethany England to score a crucial equaliser against Brighton at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

“I feel like I’m building into it with managed minutes at the moment, taking every day as it comes and working as hard as I can,” she explained. "I’m enjoying making new relationships with these players that I haven’t played with all season. It’s going to take time."

As for that assist for Beth, Kit explained: "Her run made my job a bit easier. I saw her running off the shoulder and put it into the space. She still had a lot to do to be fair, it was a great touch to take it back towards goal, and the finish speaks for itself. I’m enjoying playing with her, so if I can get more minutes with her that would be good. She’s a great player.

“The way my first touch popped the ball up, I could only do one of two passes, either to Mana (Iwabuchi) on the wing or the little slip ball through to Beth. Thankfully, it paid off, but sometimes it’s the forward’s movement that makes the pass for you.”

Kit was also delighted to see Ria Percival make her return from long-term injury in Saturday’s game, the New Zealand international coming on for the final eight minutes. If anyone understands what Ria's been through on her journey back, it's Kit...

“Ria’s been working hard for a long time now, so it was a matter of when she was going to get those minutes,” Kit said. “I’m ecstatic for her to get back on the pitch at the stadium. She got some good minutes under belt so I’m excited for what’s to come from her.

“She won’t mind me saying, she’s a bit of a dog! She’s going to fight for the team, put her body on the line and bring that calmness as well on the ball. We’ve really missed that, I think.”

Kit is well aware we'll need those tigerish qualities against a United side that has lost just twice in the WSL all season and are on a current run of nine wins in 10 in all competitions, but she's taking positives from how we performed against Marc Skinner's team in February, where we gave our all in a narrow 2-1 loss at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

“We’ve got a job to do and we’re fighting every day to make sure we can do the best we can,” she said. “It’s going to be a battle. They are where they are in the table and have had a great season. If we turn up how we did when they came to us at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, we’ll definitely give them a very good game.

“Everything is to fight for, so we’re going to give it everything and hopefully come away with the three points.”

We’ve made ourselves more difficult to beat in recent weeks, coming from behind to claim draws against Aston Villa and Brighton & Hove Albion.

“Showing resilience is massive for us,” Kit added. “That fight is there, we’re not giving up easy. Just know that we’re going to fight for everything that we can.”