Ella Toone reflects on 'difficult' barren spell for Man Utd amid bid to start playing with 'freedom' again & heaps praise on 'unbelievable' summer signing Melvine Malard

Toone hadn't contributed a goal or an assist in the Women's Super League since late March before she hit an incredible strike into the top corner in Man Utd's draw with Brighton in November, one that ended her 11-game run without a direct goal involvement.

However, the midfielder is certainly on her way back to form now, with two goals and three assists coming in her last five league appearances for her club on top of a late winner in England's clash with the Netherlands earlier this month.

Those contributions from Toone have helped United respond to a disappointing derby defeat to Man City at Old Trafford with back-to-back league wins. The club are currently fourth in the table, one point behind their city rivals, who occupy the final Champions League spot, ahead of the final weekend of WSL fixtures before the winter break.

Speaking to LiveScore about her difficult run, Toone said: "I always want to contribute goals and assists, it's what I pride myself on as a No.10. It was quite difficult having a few games without them but I just had to make sure I was not putting too much pressure on myself to force things. I always set myself targets [before a season] but this term I've learned I can't think about them too much. There's other things I can do to help the team. If I put that pressure on myself, the goals and assists are not going to come because I'm forcing things I normally wouldn't. When I play with freedom, it all comes more naturally."

Also helping her to end that run has been the recruitment of some new attacking talent to the United squad. The Red Devils' attack has had to be reshaped following Alessia Russo's summer departure and the likes of Geyse and Melvine Malard, who assisted Toone's strike against Spurs at the weekend, are settling in nicely now.

"Melvine is an unbelievable character, a great person to have around and a fantastic footballer," Toone said of the France international, who also scored twice in Sunday's victory. "She is someone I really like to link up with. She knows how I play and vice versa. It was a great pass from her to assist me. Hopefully there's more to come and we can continue linking up together on the pitch."

Toone holds two particularly prestigious records for Man Utd, with no player having made more appearances or scored more goals for the club since its women's team was relaunched in the summer of 2018.

Man Utd have two more fixtures before the winter break, taking on Leicester in the Continental Cup on Thursday evening before welcoming Liverpool to Leigh Sports Village on Sunday in the WSL.