Leicester City’s Hannah Cain is tipping her former teammate Grace Riglar to shine with Coventry United this season.
The 20-year-old defender struggled for game time at former club Leicester City last season but she has joined an ambitious Coventry United team over the summer.
Cain and Riglar were members of the Leicester City side who won the FA Women’s Championship by an eight-point margin last season. Of the 10 players who saw their Leicester City careers come to an end over the summer, six will be playing in the second tier again this year.
In a recent FAWSL media event, FAWSL Full-Time asked Cain which one of her former teammates will be the one to watch in this season’s ultra-competitive FA Women’s Championship. It was a tough question for the player but she is tipping good friend Riglar for a big year.
“I’ve got to say my best mate Grace;” Cain said when asked about who will impress. “I’m excited for all of them to have their chance to show who they are as players in a really strong competitive league. The competitiveness brings the best out of you as a player so I’m really excited to see every single one of them.
“I’m intrigued to see which one comes out on top because quite a few of them have gone to different clubs so it’s going to be really interesting.”
Anyone who is asked will have a different opinion on the FA Women’s Championship this season with the league being so hard to predict. Cain admits that she is also struggling to pick a potential winner but she is expecting to see a number of familiar names in the promotion race.
“The Championship is really competitive;” she said. “I’ve been watching who the teams have been bringing in but it looks like it’s going to be really competitive.
“You can never rule out Sheffield, Durham, they’re always at the top and you’ve got Liverpool. I think a few teams have gone professional, Charlton, then there’s Crystal Palace potentially, there are a lot of teams that are going to be thriving in that league so it’s going to be fascinating to see.”
Leicester City’s 2020/2021 title-winning campaign ended with the trophy presentation at The King Power Stadium in May. Cain scored two goals for The Foxes that day as they defeated Charlton Athletic 4-0.
Reflecting on what was a truly memorable occasion, Cain said “It was amazing. Scoring for the team at any point is always something that I want to do but the whole experience of when we played at The King Power, playing there is a massive achievement anyway.
“We were all excited, the hype of the game after winning the league, then scoring makes it even more exciting. Talking about it now makes me excited even though it has been and gone.”
Cain’s former teammate Riglar could make her Coventry United debut when they take on Sunderland in their opening match at the Butts Park Arena on Sunday afternoon.
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