Ashleigh Neville on her return from injury: “It was a great game to come back to”
Mon 04 March 2024, 17:00|
Tottenham Hotspur
Ashleigh Neville made her return from injury on Sunday afternoon in the 1-0 defeat to Arsenal in the Barclays Women’s Super League.
The defender, who hadn’t featured since the victory over West Ham United in January, has been sidelined with an ankle injury in recent weeks, but was named in the starting XI by Robert Vilahamn ahead of the north London derby and went onto complete over 60 minutes at the Emirates Stadium.
Despite having two of the best opportunities in the first half, Martha Thomas being denied by Manuela Zinsberger and Jessica Naz striking the crossbar, the Gunners secured the three points in the WSL after Alessia Russo’s goal in the early stages of the second half.
Ashleigh, who is in her seventh season at the Club, was full of praise for her teammates performance against one of the top sides in the league and was delighted to be back on the pitch after a spell on the sideline.
Speaking in her post-match interview with SPURSPLAY, Ashleigh said: “The girls have performed really well and we have come away unlucky. We had a few chances that we could have taken and, maybe, it just wasn’t our day, but I think it shows that we have come a long way and we are closing the gap.
“It was only one goal and they took their chance, but I’m really proud of all the girls and we will take the positives from this game into next week.
“It was a great game for us to come back to, in front of over 60,000 people. I’m happy for myself and Drew [Spence], I have worked really hard in training and, although it has only been five weeks, it has felt like forever for me. We now have a full squad going into Man City so bring it on.”
The 30-year-old was part of the squad that secure promotion for the first-ever time in 2019 and been with us in every of our WSL campaigns, and the defender has certainly seen the evolution of the women’s game throughout each year.
When asked about the growing attendances, Ashleigh said: “It’s massive to see the attendances in the women’s game. I was talking the other day about when I first came to Spurs and we were playing in front of 50 people down at Cheshunt, so it’s great to see all these supporters here for the women’s game to keep on evolving and moving forward.”
