On Wednesday, Ceri Holland, a midfielder for Liverpool FC Women, wore the captain’s armband, making her quick comeback from injury all the more noteworthy.
Holland missed last weekend’s 2-1 victory over Leicester City Women due to an injury she got while playing for her country last month, but she was back on the field by midweek.
In addition, the No. 18 led the Reds against Manchester City Women in a thrilling Continental League Cup match that the opposition won 4-3.
Nevertheless, Matt Beard’s team will take the positives from that performance into their upcoming trip game on Sunday against Tottenham Hotspur Women.
Read the pre-match conversation below. Liverpoolfc.com spoke with Holland prior to the Barclays Women’s Super League game, which kicks off at 12.30 p.m. GMT.
Regarding the team’s successful start to the season…
We’ve clearly gotten off to a really good start, and I believe we’ve gained some momentum in the last few games—particularly following our performances on Sunday and Wednesday night. Although we didn’t learn the outcome on Wednesday, I thought the performance was excellent at points. Positive aspects and areas for improvement exist outside of the game.
Though we’re pleased with our position in the league thus far, there’s always something we can improve. We probably could have scored more points in a few of the games. The focus now is on this weekend’s trip to Tottenham , ensuring that we play well first and foremost in the hopes of winning all three points.
Gemma Bonner set a WSL era appearance record for the team on Wednesday, demonstrating the depth of the squad.
Yes, in full. I would like to start by congratulating Gemma on her record, as it is truly an amazing feat. Right now, I believe there is fierce competitiveness among the squad members, which is exactly what we want. It puts a lot of pressure on you as a player and requires you to give it your all every training session. I believe that’s what we need, and this year’s roster includes guys who can provide a variety of skills. We can adjust to many situations in games, thus this is an extremely exciting moment to be alive.
On how special it was to see Leanne Kiernan come off the bench against City after long-term injury…
I have been with her the whole way. She’s had one of the toughest rehabilitation programmes I have ever seen. She’s worked incredibly hard and that takes a lot of resilience as well as a strong mindset to keep coming back from the knocks she’s had along the way. It was an unbelievable night for her. It was the biggest positive for me from the night that she got back on the pitch and you could see the whole squad were so, so happy to have her back.
You could see she was a little bit emotional at the end and I think the whole squad were because we’ve all been with her on the journey, too. I thought she was really good and looked really sharp. It’s exciting to have her back, have her personality back – and that in our house we’re both back on the pitch!
On the spirit and camaraderie that exists among the players, and how the summer signings have complemented it…
First and foremost, the people that came in over the summer are good people. That’s testament to the recruitment here as it enables us to maintain that atmosphere we always have in terms of it being a family environment. We’re very close off the pitch and that helps with the connections you now start to see forming on it even more. We’ll continue to build on that throughout the season and it’s only going to get stronger, so it’s enjoyable to be a part of.
On getting minutes in midweek and captaining the side on the night…
It was a really special moment to lead the team out and one I won’t forget in a hurry – especially in front of our fans. It was good to get back on the pitch after a little injury. It was frustrating to get injured during the international break but to be back out there and get 45 minutes under my belt before the weekend bodes well.
On what Liverpool are expecting against Tottenham on Sunday…
I think it’ll be a really tough game. Both teams will play good, attacking football and it’ll be an exciting one to watch. We’ll cause them problems and they’ll cause us a couple of problems as well, but we’ll be going down there focused on ourselves and with full confidence that we can win it.
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