England star Rachel Daly named Women's Super League Player of the Season after record-breaking campaign with Aston Villa

• Daly named WSL Player of the Season
• Scored 21 goals in 21 league games
• Form could make her England's No.9 at World Cup

WHAT HAPPENED? After winning Euro 2022 with the Lionesses as a left-back, Daly has excelled as a centre forward for Aston Villa this season, scoring 21 goals in 21 league games. That saw her beat out tough competition to scoop up the award, for which Sam Kerr, Guro Reiten, Ona Batlle, Leah Galton, Kirsty Hanson, Bunny Shaw and Frida Maanum were also nominated.

THE BIGGER PICTURE: Daly's goal-scoring return is the highest tally in a single season for an Englishwoman in the WSL era and helped Villa secure a fifth-placed finish, with her also playing a key role as the club reached a first ever Women's FA Cup final.

AND WHAT'S MORE: Daly's form has also opened up conversations about who England's starting No.9 will be at the Women's World Cup this summer. For a while, it seemed certain that berth would go to Manchester United's Alessia Russo but it will surely be hard for Sarina Wiegman to ignore a player who is averaging a goal a game.

IN THREE PHOTOS:

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WHAT NEXT FOR DALY? The England star could create more history this weekend. Villa face Arsenal in their final game of the season, with Daly just one goal behind Vivianne Miedema's record for a single WSL season.