Megan Finnigan discussed her current condition as she looks to regain fitness following a long absence recovering from an horrific ACL injury
Megan Finnigan inspects the pitch before the Barclays Women's Super League 2026/27 match between West Ham United and Everton. Photo by James Fearn/Getty Images
Megan Finnigan inspects the pitch before the Barclays Women's Super League 2026/27 match between West Ham United and Everton. Photo by James Fearn/Getty Images
View Image
Megan Finnigan described her journey back to fitness as a “rollercoaster” but said she now feels “ready” after almost two years fighting injury.
The 28-year-old made her return in Everton Women’s midweek cup win over Birmingham City - her first competitive appearance in 602 days since suffering an anterior cruciate ligament injury.
She then marked her comeback to Women’s Super League action with a substitute appearance in the Merseyside derby defeat at Anfield on Sunday.
After the game Finnigan, the club captain, recognised she had been through a challenging time and provided an honest assessment of where she believes she is in her return to fitness.
She said: “It's been a rollercoaster, and I think a lot of people presume that when you are back the journey's over but, if anything, I think you've got another bit to go because it's all about finding yourself again, finding your form, trusting yourself.
“Wednesday night, for me, was great because it gave me confidence that I am ready. I feel ready. I just need opportunities to be able to show that - and consistency.
“I'm just happy to be back among the squad and trying to compete for a place. It's been a long time.”
The 2-0 loss was a blow to Scott Phelan’s side, who went into the game off the back of three consecutive wins. Everton had beaten Liverpool in all six of their previous visits to Anfield but fell to goals from Beata Olsson and Cornelia Kapocs in a game dominated by the hosts.
Finnigan acknowledged the better side won. She said: “In fairness to them, they deserved to win. We were, in my opinion, second best to everything.
“I always say, I don't really feel like these derbies are about who's gonna play the best football, it's about who wants it more, who shows more desire and passion, and I didn’t think we did that enough and probably showed them a bit too much respect at times, which allowed them to gain control.
“It is really disappointing because we've got such a good record here, well we had until today. It’s really disappointing, of course.”
In his post-match comments, Phelan said the timing of Olsson’s opener - it came after just three minutes - was a setback his side struggled to overcome and said he felt there had been a lack of belief from his players in the match.
Asked whether she agreed with that, Finnigan said: “I didn't feel it before the game. I think elements of our performance would suggest that because even though they went 1-0 up quite early on, we still were in the game,and I think we actually could have been 1-1 at half-time, we had a really good chance.
!I think it was mainly a lack of belief in our decision-making,in our pressing, I think we were just a little bit too indecisive. We weren't really going, but we weren't really sitting, so it just allowed them to play through us at times and we made them look really good. I think in these games you have just got to commit to your actions and do it with conviction.”