Beth Mead says she is ready to be in contention for England’s Nations League fixtures this month following her long awaited return to the pitch during Arsenal’s 2-1 win over Aston Villa after suffering an ACL injury 11 months ago.
Roars of support and a standing ovation from 35,829 fans at the Emirates Stadium welcomed Mead back to the same pitch where she tore her ACL in November last year. Subbed on in the 88th minute, the England forward lifted the Gunners to score twice in added time to steal their first win of the season over Aston Villa.
Mead, whose presence on the pitch significantly aided Arsenal’s comeback, assisted Alessia Russo in the winning goal- there is no surprise she holds the record for most assists in the WSL.
Speaking after the game, Mead revelled making her return felt like Christmas.
“Pretty amazing. It’s been a long, long time coming,” she said.
“There have been a lot of hard days, a lot of good days. I think, ultimately, you want to do your job, you want to do something you love – and that had been taken away for such a long time. So to be able to get out there, with that type of reception from the fans, was pretty incredible.”
Arsenal Head Coach Jonas Eidevall praised the 28-year-old for her resilience and patience.
“She deserves that reception; she’s worked so hard,” she Swede said. “She’s had a really difficult year, both being injured, her mum passed away. We know that it’s been incredibly tough for her, and it’s so nice to see her being back on the pitch, seeing her being able to perform straight away.”
Registering 15 minutes in total, 12 of which was in added time, Mead now says she is ready for England contention when the October squad for a Nations League double header against Belgium is announced this week.
“I am ready to compete,” she said of her possible return to the international stage. “If Sarina [Wiegman] thinks so or not is a different story. But in my own head, I am ready to compete.
“I am a hopeful person. Hopefully I get a chance to speak to Sarina at some point in the next few days and we will go from there. Unfortunately I am not a mind reader, I don’t know where her brain is at the moment!”
Mead and Russo enjoyed a strong patnership for England at Euro 2022. Assisting Russo’s winning goal in the 94th minute on Sunday, Mead believes the burgeoning partnership at club level with her Lionesses teammate could build something special as Arsenal bid for top spot once again.
“Me and Less have had the chance to play together a little bit,” she said. “I think it was nice that we got that chance to link up…and it got the winner. I am excited to try and break back into the team, compete for a position again. Hopefully we can do something special throughout the season.”
Speaking of their partnership, Eidevall added: “We see them together in their national team. It’s not a hope that is based on just fantasies. We have seen that work in reality. So let’s hope because we have a lot of good relationships going on.”
Despite her eagerness to reclaim a starting role, Arsenal has a different look since Mead was ruled out the best part of a year ago. Four world class new signings arrived in summer on top of the introduction of young, exciting talent in the prior January window, Mead will now have to compete for a starting spot in the increasingly stacked team.
“I think the competition has been really good. In training the intensity is incredible. We are being competitive, working each other really, really hard. To get on that pitch you need to be playing well, and ultimately that’ll help the team,” she said.
“You could see the talent that came on the pitch for us. You have game-changers and players [off the bench] changed the game.”
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