Within moments of Smith’s arrival on the pitch she played the kind of defence splitting pass the game was crying out for WRITES CATHERINE ETOE and by the time the England players walked off, she had played her part in the crucial equaliser. She met the press the day after to talk about the match, her injury and France. Here’s what she said…
On getting on the pitch against Russia:
Yeah, I was delighted to get 12 minutes or so. Obviously it was a disappointing performance in terms of the result but I was pleased that I could come on at the end and try and impact the team and help with our goal to equalise. When I came on I just wanted to get on the ball as much as possible because I feel like I can create or see different passes that other players don‘t sometimes, just to be that energy to lift the team and I certainly felt that me and Toni did that, we were lively, chasing balls down, making runs and I think that really lifted the team.
On her yellow card:I’m so fiery and I wanted to come on and make an impact and I was in the ref’s ear quite early on for a late challenge where I should have got a foul. I didn’t even see the goal go in because I was complaining to the ref that I should have got a penalty and I was showing too much disrespect to her so she gave me a card.
On realising it was a goal:
I was screaming to the ref handball, penalty and she was like, Kelly it’s a goal and I turned and I saw Toni running off and I was like, okay, I apologise, but she booked me anyway.
On watching from the sidelines:
First game it was hard for me and all the subs because you want to get out there and help the team and you want to be playing. My situation is different because I’ve probably only got 20-30 minutes in me maximum. It’s just because of the history of the injury I’ve had and I haven’t played for four months.
On her injury:
It’s my tibia where I broke my leg a year or so ago, I’ve got metalwork in there and against Torres [for Arsenal in the Champions League] I took a whack on it and it caused a load of tissue damage around the metalwork and it should have only been a six to eight week injury and it’s just turned out to be a lot longer.
On her rehab:
Every other day I’m running in the pool in a buoyancy suit, because it’s low impact on the leg, just trying to keep the tissue loose around that area. It felt fine after the Russia game.
On her possible involvement against France:
If we can win quite comfortably I’m quite happy sitting on the bench but I do feel like I could probably give a little bit more, 20-30 minutes if needed to come on and try and do the same thing again.
On whether the hard work is worth it:
It’s been a hard four months dealing with this injury and the emotional rollercoaster that you go through. I didn’t know if I wanted to be a part of it and I had a lot of conversations with Hope about getting me to St George’s Park to get hands on treatment every day because with club football, because we only train twice a week, physiotherapy is limited and with this injury I needed hands-on treatment every day. But it’s all been worth it, just to keep us in the tournament. Hopefully I’ve got a lot more to give.
On whether it is her last tournament:
Possibly. I’m just in it right now and I’m not really thinking the next year or the year after I’m just happy that I’m part of it because for a long time I didn’t think I would make it again. I was at St George’s Park for five weeks with extensive rehab on my leg so I’m lucky I made it, even at the cut off point I was still touch and go because I still wasn’t training. I would train one day and it would be so sore the next. Hope said to me you’ve got to prove that you can train and show you can give me some minutes on the field so obviously that was at the back of my mind, that was an added pressure that I was putting on myself.
On what’s been lacking in the England matches so far:
The first game we were too nervous, I don’t know why, we can’t put our fingers on it because we’ve all got a lot of caps and a lot of tournament experience. Sometimes our play has been quite sloppy which isn’t like us and we’ve not been clinical enough in front of goal. We had opportunities [against Russia] probably two or three where we could have buried the game.
On France:
It’s massive and will be a battle. We know they are a great side favourites to win it. We played them a few months back and they came back into it 2-2 so we always seem to play well against France, I just hope that the team can show up and play better than the previous two games, it’s a much needed big performance from everybody and from the subs coming off the bench. I certainly believe we can do it and there is a belief in the squad that we haven’t shown our full potential in the first two games and hopefully we can raise our game again.
On the squad and subs:
The players that have come in such as Jordan [Nobbs], she’s a bundle of energy and really gets the team ticking in midfield, especially for Arsenal. We’ve got players now that Hope can rely on coming off the bench and making an impact. I think this is probably the strongest squad we’ve ever had. I think Jordan could make an impact, she’s been doing well in training and having played club football with her, you know what she’s about, she always wants to make things happen. The youngsters are knocking on the door right now, no-one’s place is safe and I think a few players are sweating now on the starting line up for Thursday’s game especially coming off the back of a loss and a draw. I think there will be a few changes.
(Images: Catherine Etoe & www.jamesprickett.co.uk)
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