Georgia Hewitt (htlfc.org.uk)
Derby County have brought in Kate Wright from West Brom and Georgia Hewitt, previously of Huddersfield Town.
The Rams say Wright played a starring role for the Baggies last season and will be an important cog for manager John Bennett’s side after the loss of both his central defensive pair of Emily Jeffrey and Lorna Abbey, along with stand-in defender Sam Griffiths to long-term injuries.
Bennett told DCLFC Media “To capture the signature of a talent like Kate, will give us a boost going into the new season. She is someone that we watched last season and she’ll fit in perfectly with the squad.
Latest signing Hewitt, who can play across the defence and in midfield, spent time with the Rams as a youngster, and has also played for WSL side Aston Villa.
Hewitt said “I enjoyed my time at Huddersfield Town Ladies but the lure to come back to Derby County Ladies was too big an opportunity to turn down and I am looking forward to making a big impact and hopefully we can make that next step towards the WSL.
“I firmly believe that we can get their and the style of play that they adopt is something i’m excited about. The facilities on offer are amazing and we have all the bases covered when it comes to getting the best preparation off the pitch.”
Bennett was equally pleased to secure his fourth signing of the summer and said “She has bags of pace and is only going to get better, which is what we are all about here at Derby County. She will benefit from playing with our experienced players and she has already settled in really well with the rest of the team.
County’s boss remains cautiously optimistic ahead of the new season but the announcement of the new signings this week, as well as the first pre-season game against WSL side Sheffield FC on Sunday has got him chomping to get going.
“This week we’ve started to ramp up our preparations and Sunday’s game against quality opposition will be a good stern test and show us where we need to improve. We’ve got a lot of exciting players coming into the club and this week we think our fans will be very pleased with our recruitment for the upcoming season, its certainly got me excited for what we can achieve.”