Mannion: It's lovely to be back from injury

After suffering a quad tear back in September, the 28-year-old made her comeback in our FA Cup fifth-round success against Southampton and has since featured against Man City in our last WSL outing, as she edges her way back into first-team action.

With a busy end to the season ahead, Mannion will hope to play a key part in our remaining league and cup endeavours, which includes a semi-final clash in the latter with reigning holders Chelsea.

You can secure your seat for that game by clicking the link here or scrolling down below...

"It’s lovely to be back in contention," began the Republic of Ireland international, ahead of Sunday's league meeting with Everton. 

"To be back around the girls on the pitch every day, I thought the novelty would wear off a lot quicker but it hasn’t yet!

"It’s always the way that we forget how lucky we are. Right now, I’m really appreciating it."

Featuring in the final stages against Southampton last month, Mannion was met with a round of applause following her introduction, with her return serving as a timely boost for Skinner's side.

Tottenham, Leicester, Liverpool and Chelsea are all to come in the league following this weekend's clash with Everton, and Aoife provided an insight into the nerve-jangling feeling that comes after a lengthy lay-off.

"There’s definitely a level of apprehension," began the Reds' defender.

"Each injury I’ve come back from, I’ve randomly felt slightly different about. So this one, because it was a muscle injury, it was quite easy to imagine doing that sort of injury again.

"And when you are a substitute, you do worry about your muscles getting too cold – running on with a big smiley face, breaking into a sprint and all of a sudden it’s a Shakespearean tragedy as you pull a muscle!

"You do have those moments where you think like that, but what I’ve found is that it helps to remember it’s quite normal to think like that when you’ve been out for a really long time – to think: ‘Am I going to be okay?’

"I’ve found it helps to just not take too hard of a line one way or another. And it really helps having a nice team and medical staff around to just bounce off any little worries."

With just three months to go until the 2023/24 campaign draws to a close, Mannion revealed her own personal aspirations as we approach a key period in the season.

"[I just want to] be intact," she added. "Be physically intact in the first instance.

"When I came back from injury last year, I was coming on to the pitch feeling like I could really make an impact.