_Arsenal were 3-0 winners over Leuven in Belgium on Wednesday night. Leah Williamson stopped in the mixed zone after the game. The first three questions are from Arseblog News._
**On being well versed in coming back from injury…**
I think you can be a good rehaber and a good returner, if that’s the set of circumstances then I think you just have to get on with it. But I know myself. The squad, obviously, you compare returning from injury now to five, six years ago, the depth is better, so it’s a lot better for you as an athlete as well. I’ve actually really enjoyed the reintegration and obviously, the girls have done the business on the pitch, which is allowed me to get on and get minutes, which I always appreciate.
**On whether she knew there was a risk of injury going into the Euros final…**
I knew I was at risk. My ankle was pretty done in. It had been since the quarterfinal, so that just became what it was. But I felt something in the warm up. So, I knew there was a risk, but I wasn’t in pain during that Euros final. I just, I think adrenaline was enough in that game to get you through. But I didn’t know it was going to be a four month thing. That hit me, but at least we won, that made it worth it. If we’d lost that game, this would be a different conversation!
**On Arsenal’s ball progression issues without her early in the season…**
I actually spoke to Renee really early on. It’s hard an injury. Sometimes you don’t know how you’re gonna feel, sometimes you want to just keep it to yourself, sometimes you feel like you can still integrate and maybe just with age and being one of the experienced players I wanted to be involved from the start. So I was quite heavily involved in the meetings considering I wasn’t actually playing. I think it’s nice sometimes, like, I know I would appreciate the perspective of somebody just watching, you know, my perspective’s almost like a fan. Even sometimes, like, we’re not very exciting today, or girls, this is so good to watch. for more from a personal level, less tactical. Just saying ‘I’m proud of you’, or, if I’m a fan and I’m watching, I’m happy with today. That was what I tried to be for them on that time, but it’s always hard watching. That’s why I didn’t get too bogged down in that sort of stuff.
**On Arsenal’s return to form recently…**
You’re starting to see what we’ve been working really hard behind the scenes to do. I think that sometimes just happens in football. And I think because of the expectation at the start, if you don’t meet that result straight away, then it becomes a bigger and bigger thing. But I think this block is just about us. It’s about being together, the one thing across the season that we’ve lacked is consistency. We’ve had great moments and that consistency to just be inevitable, basically.
**On games coming thick and fast…**
At this stage in the season it keeps you fresh because you can’t take a minute. There’s no time to rest, which I think is actually very good for the mentality side of things. Ask me when we get round to Ma and you’re thinking, I’m not sure how many times you can go against the challenge, which is what makes it beautiful. But having a job to do when we came here, having a job to do at the weekend, having another job to do, come Sunday. For us right now, we’re energised by it.
**On the Champions League campaign this season…**
I think we’ve grown into it. I think we’ve been very, very professional the last couple, especially the last couple of results, to get them and to put ourselves fifth. I think it’s the best case scenario, considering what happened the first two games. So not the best ever, but we’re in the next round that is the most important thing.
On watching on from the sidelines recently…
I think you see everything when you’re on the sideline, you become Messi or Ronaldo when you sat on the sideline. I think that the thing that I love about this team, when I watch them, I think it’s very evident and I hope the fan base sees this as well, but I think we wear our heart on our sleeve. I think it’s very evident that we’re trying, we care, which I appreciate on the sideline. There is nothing worse than being injured and watching people that you thought didn’t take that moment and do something with it. Football’s football, but I think we’ve been really professional. We finished really strong.