Everton forward Valérie Gauvin is hoping to be ready to play some minutes against Manchester City at Goodison Park next weekend when The Blue Girls get their 2021/2022 Barclays FA Women’s Super League season under-way.
Willie Kirk’s side take on The Cityzens in what could be a blockbuster opening day clash on Merseyside.
Everton have been short on numbers in attack during pre-season due to be injury and Olympic involvement. One of those players to have been sidelined by injury is French international forward Gauvin. The striker endured an injury-plagued first campaign on Merseyside while her preparations for the new season have been far from ideal. The player has now returned to training though and she says that she is hoping to make an appearance against Manchester City next weekend.
“Things are going really well, better that I expected,” Gauvin told FAWSL Full-Time in a recent WSL media session. “I’ve really put some hard work in, I’ve been really busy trying to prepare myself, taking things step-by-step, stage-by-stage, knowing that my goal was to get fit for the opening game of the season.
“I would say that I am not quite 100 percent to last a full 90 minutes because the stage-by-stage process started with individual work but it has been about two-and-a-half weeks now since I have been back training with the full group.
“Hopefully, I might be able to feature, I might be able to get some minutes. Even if I don’t, I am hoping that I will be 100 percent very, very soon so that I can contribute at this important time at the start of the season.”
Last season saw Everton struggle to pick up points when facing sides in the top four positions in the Barclays FA Women’s Super League table. With nine new players on their books, Kirk’s side look to be a much stronger opponent this season and Gauvin is hoping that this will be demonstrated against Manchester City.
She said “Hopefully, we will be able to see a big improvement in those kind of games against those bigger rivals.
“I think in particular, the arrival of the Swedish players, fresh from an Olympics final says a lot, it is a big statement I think and it will give us a different aspect to our play I would say. You could say that the big inroads that we have made with our recruitment this summer, we are adding different bricks to the building, we are adding the missing pieces and hopefully that will bode well for the future.
“Obviously, when you have lots of new faces coming into the squad, it takes time to get to know one another, to know automatically what sort of runs people are going to be making and get to know people’s habits on and off the field.
“It is a massive plus for us. We have got lots of different cards to play, lots of different options now on the field in games, situations and preparing for games and hopefully, we are going to have a big season.”
Gauvin joined Everton last summer following a six-year spell with French club Montpellier. She netted five goals in 15 Barclays FA Women’s Super League outings for The Blues Girls, a record that she will want to build on this year.