BIRMINGHAM City’s Ladies captain Karen Carney reviews the past fortnight that has seen her team top the Women’s Super League with a win against Arsenal and a draw against Liverpool. She also talks about playing for England this month and looks ahead to the Manchester City league game and Continental Cup matches that follow the domestic the break
Top of the League
I played in a more central role against Arsenal [May 21], I am familiar with this role because I often play in a central role for England but I’m not as familiar with it in a domestic club environment.
However I really enjoyed playing behind Kirsty [Linnet, who scored both goals in the 2-0 victory] and just in front of the midfield.
In our game against Liverpool I scored from the spot which I was really happy with.
I had missed a penalty against Chelsea in the previous league ficture at Moors, which we won 2-1, and I was really frustrated because I haven’t missed a penalty for so long.
So I was really happy with this goal, both for me and the team as it’s given me confidence again.
A little blip like that against Chelsea can put doubt in your mind, but I knew straight away that I was going to score.
The Break
I’ve spent the week at St George’s Park getting treatment from the Perform staff, they wanted to help me and that’s been really, really good.
It’s been a break for me but I’ve still been getting all my treatment for my sciatica problem.
The injury is really settling down now, it’s annoying with niggly injuries like that because you’ve still got to play the games you do.
Coming back from the break can be tough for all of us, and we need to step it up and push on in the second part of the season.
In the first season of the Women’s Super League we were high flying in the league, but after the break we completely collapsed.
Continental Cup
I think we’ve reached the Continental Cup final two or three times now so hopefully we’ll do it again, and I think we definitely can do it again.
After being knocked out of the FA Cup it would be nice for the club to get some silverware, and this could be our chance.
We deserve it too, we’ve been fantastic so far this season and have been playing really attractive football.
We have three Continental Cup games after our game against Manchester City [Oxford United, Notts County and Bristol Academy] and we will need to carry on our momentum.
If we lose one of those games then that’s it, we’re out.
We will come back from the break focused and try and regain our momentum.
England
Hopefully me and a couple of the other girls at Blues will get called up to the England squad, as we’ve got a couple of qualifying matches for the Women’s World Cup [Belarus Saturday, June 14, Ukraine Thursday, June 19].
If I get called up then I will definitely play.
My injury is really settling and my time here at St George’s has been really good.
I feel rested, and that my body has reacted really well to the treatments so as long as I’m careful, and called up, I’ll definitely be playing.
