BECKY READY TO TAKE HER CHANCE WITH BOTH HANDS
FIT-AGAIN Becky Spencer has had to bide her time since arriving at Chelsea – but now insists she is ready to take the reins in goal.
Spencer joined from Birmingham City in January but with Swedish international Hedvig Lindahl already at the club, found first-team opportunities limited.
Her cause was not helped by a long-term knee problem but, having got to the stage where she could fully trust her knee once more, the former Arsenal trainee is set for her first competitive start against Doncaster Rovers Belles this weekend.
“It’s my first season and coming in with an injury I’ve just been trying to find my fitness and push for a first-team place,” she said.
“I tore my PCL (posterior cruciate ligament) last August so it was quite a long time coming back from that, but I’ve been back in full training for a while.
“It’s been more of a mental thing than physical coming back; you have to learn to trust your knee again, especially given that I play in goal.
“I’ve been waiting for a long time for a chance, but now that I’ve got it I want to take it.When you’ve got someone like Hedvig it’s a big challenge.
“After playing in a few friendlies, it will be good to get the chance to play in the first team.”
Spencer has had a roundabout path to Chelsea, having spent a number of years with rivals Arsenal, where she worked in the academy with current Blues boss Emma Hayes.
After three years with Birmingham City, where she appeared in a Champions League semifinal and was the hero in the 2012 SSE Women’s FA Cup final victory, Spencer joined double winners Chelsea this year.
But while all appeared to be going swimmingly earlier in the season, a recent sticky patch has seen Chelsea knocked out of the Continental Tyres Cup by minnows London Bees as well as falling off the pace a little in WSL 1 with one point from their last two games.
Defeat last time out to Arsenal was particularly costly, in a repeat of the FA Cup final loss earlier in the season at Wembley Stadium.
And Spencer is determined to put things right sooner rather than later.
“It was a disappointing loss to Arsenal but the spirit in the camp is still very good,” she added.
“It’s going to go right down to the wire this season, and unfortunately they were able to take their chances and we couldn’t.
“We need to make sure we finish our chances as that was one of the main things we didn’t do against Arsenal.
“That win will give Arsenal a lot of confidence and they are starting to get some points on the board.
“We need to get a result but we know Doncaster will be tough to beat.
“They have a new manager (Emma Coates) and have started playing well.
“Going forward they have a lot of pace and they are well-organised so we’ll have to take our chances to break them down.”