Spence on her return from injury: “I’m happy to be back”
Sun 31 March 2024, 08:00|
Tottenham Hotspur
Drew Spence made her long-awaited return to action at the beginning of March and she has loved every minute being back on the pitch.
The experienced midfielder suffered a hamstring issue in the opening weeks of November that kept her on the sidelines for over four months before eventually making her comeback in our Barclays Women’s Super League fixture against Arsenal at Emirates Stadium as she was introduced just after the hour mark.
Drew then returned to the starting XI just a few weeks later in our 1-0 victory over Leicester City at Brisbane Road, playing 45 minutes, before putting in a positive performance in our win over Bristol City last weekend.
The 31-year-old was denied on two occasions by the Robins’ goalkeeper Fran Bentley and made 11 passes into the final third – the second highest in the game – while she also played a part in Bethany England’s goal, sliding the ball into Grace Clinton who then teed up the goalscorer.
As we sat down with Drew in the women’s building at the training complex in Enfield, she spoke about her excitement to be back on the grass and how her team-mates and staff supported her during the recovery.
“I’m just really happy to be back,” Drew explained. “Obviously it was a long time of me being out injured, so it was just nice to find my feet again and I was excited to be back on the pitch, I have missed it a lot.
“Just to step out on the grass again and get that feeling with my team-mates again was a really good feeling. When you are away from the game for that long you can miss everything about it. I haven’t had an injury that has kept me out for that long before, so it was mentally tough but the physio’s and everyone around the building helped me a lot.
“All the players supported throughout my recovery, including Olga [Ahtinen] and Eveliina [Summanen] who were injured at the same time and had them for a chunk of the rehab as well. We all helped each other, especially all being midfielders and missing being out there, so there was a massive support network and all the girls helped me find my feet again once I returned.”
