Aston Villa Women: Carla Ward believes Ruesha Littlejohn can have huge impact after return from injury
Aston Villa manager Carla Ward believes Ruesha Littlejohn can have a “massive” impact on their season after the midfielder returned from injury against Durham in the Conti Cup.
The 32-year-old Republic of Ireland international started in the middle of the park in the 1-0 win on Sunday (27 November), before being substituted at half-time as she continues her path to full-match fitness.
The Villa star, who extended her stay in the West Midlands by signing a new contract in the summer, had been out of action with a foot injury all season and was making her first appearance of the season in Claret and Blue.
When speaking to Aston Villa’s official reporter, Ward was asked how Littlejohn was holding up after she made her return, to which she replied: “Yeah, good, you know, steady.
“I think we had to argue a little bit with the performance team. I think they wanted her to have a little bit less time on the pitch but she got to 45 which we were delighted about.
“It puts her in good stead now for kicking on and we have some important games coming up.”
On the impact the Ireland international can have in the dressing room, the manager added: “She’s massive for us. She’s massive, not just, you know, not just on the pitch, but off the pitch the way she leads the group, her character, which will we all know about.
“So she’s a really important player for the dressing room.”
Integral character
The timely return of Littlejohn to the Aston Villa ranks will come as welcome news to Ward, whose side will head into their WSL fixture against Manchester United on the back of three consecutive wins in all competitions.
The creative midfielder, who has been capped 60 times for her country and won several major honours in Scotland with Glasgow City, will add a much-needed sense of authority and experience to Villa’s side when fully fit.
With Rachel Daly up front, the returning Littlejohn drifting into attacking midfield areas and Rachel Corsie in defence, a really solid spine is starting to emerge under Ward’s management – and a spine that Villa’s younger players can feed off and improve under.
With a league visit to United followed by a home game against second-place Arsenal, the coming weeks will give a brilliant idea of the progress this Villa side has made in recent times, and the return of Littlejohn will only improve their chances.
In other Aston Villa news, Emi Martinez reveals he called on a psychologist after Argentina’s defeat to Saudi Arabia.