Chelsea attacker Fran Kirby says that finally being able to make her England return was a really special moment.
The 30-year-old made her first England appearance in a year as the Lionesses defeated Belgium 1-0 in a UEFA Women’s Nations League fixture at The King Power Stadium in Leicester last night. Kirby came off the bench to play the final 25 minutes for Sarina Wiegman’s side.
Kirby missed the final round of international action of 2022 with a viral infection while a knee injury ruled her out of the FIFA Women’s World Cup Australia and New Zealand 2023. The player’s England return was long overdue and she admits that it was an amazing feeling to finally get back on the pitch.
“I’ve really enjoyed it,” Kirby said when speaking to the media after the Belgium game. “Coming back in, it’s like you’ve never been away. It’s just how it is seeing these faces.
“I’ve really enjoyed it. I’ve been working really hard over the summer to try and get back as quickly as possible and to be involved tonight was really special.”
Kirby’s introduction in the 65th minute produced a huge roar from the stands. The player said that the support of the fans and her teammates has played a massive part in her rehabilitation.
She said “It’s really nice. The support that I’ve had over the past year has been incredible from fans, national team and Chelsea. I can’t fault anyone for their support and that has been really pivotal for me coming back.
“It’s frustrating when I’m injured and can’t be out there, so to hear that reception when I come on is really special and it’s something that I won’t forget. I’ve been working really hard to get back out on the pitch as much as possible and I want to stay there.”
England created a number of chances against Belgium but were wasteful in front of goal. Kirby echoed head coach Wiegman’s comments that the most important factor was collecting the three points.
“First and foremost, it is important that we are creating the chances,” the attacker said. “It has been similar at club where we’ve been creating a lot of chances but not putting the ball in the back of the net.
“The most important thing is getting three points in these kind of games. It’s what we set out to do, we don’t set out saying that we are going to score four or five goals, we say we want to get three points.
“We want to score more goals, we want to make it more entertaining for people coming to watch but first and foremost, it’s three points.”
England are next in action on Tuesday when they travel to Leuven to face Belgium in the reverse fixture.
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