Aston Villa Women: Mid-season break an opportunity for Carla Ward to take stock and nurse squad back to full fitness
After consecutive heavy defeats at the hands of Manchester United and Arsenal, the WSL mid-season break has come at the perfect time for Carla Ward to take stock and get her countless injured players back to full fitness.
The Aston Villa boss has enjoyed a fruitful start to the 2022/23 season, with her side sitting sixth in the table after nine games – but the stark gap to the top four was highlighted by the 5-0 defeat at Old Trafford and the 4-1 defeat to Arsenal at the weekend.
After scraping past relegation last season, the early signs are that The Villans have made some significant strides under the guidance of the 38-year-old, and if some fresh faces are brought into the club in January, it wouldn’t come as a surprise to see them battling for the best-of-the-rest spot at the end of the season.
Ward hasn’t been helped recently by the countless injuries in her squad, which meant she could only field four substitutes on the bench at the weekend.
Forward Emily Gielnik and Isobel Goodwin both came on in the second half, but the Villa manager’s ability to alter the course of the match was severley hindered by the long list of names sidelined.
Recent injuries to players such as Natasha Harding, Chantelle Boye-Hlorkah, Remi Allen, Simone Magill and Ruesha Littlejohn have left Villa shortchanged throughout crucial matches this season.
The injury to Harding came as a particularly big blow to Ward, with the Wales international rupturing her quad tendon in November.
The 33-year-old started the campaign brightly after her summer transfer to the west midlands from Reading, making six appearances in Claret and Blue and scoring in the 1-1 Conti Cup draw against Everton in October.
Speaking to VillaTV, the Villa manager outlined the progress made this season but highlighted that they would be dipping into the January window to freshen up the squad.
She said: “We’re eight games in. We’ve scored the same amount of goals we scored for the entirety of last season. We’ve surpassed the points total of where we were at this point last year.
“We’re progressing in the right way. This break gives us an opportunity to get a few players back from injury and also tap into the transfer market of course. A few new faces in the building I think will give everyone a lift.
“We can look forward to a bright second half of the season because this group is onto something and there’s a real possibility we can kick on.”
Villa return to WSL action with a trip to Tottenham on January 14 before facing a tough test at Manchester City on January 21.
The month’s break has come at the perfect time for Villa’s depleted squad, and the team can hit the New Year with fresh-found optimism.
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