Leah Williamson's Arsenal return a result of ‘incredibly hard’ work as Gunners boss Jonas Eidevall praises determination of Lionesses star following ACL injury

The England skipper returned to the Arsenal squad for their Women's League Cup clash against Reading on Wednesday after remaining sidelined with an anterior cruciate ligament injury since April 2023. She showed little rust upon her return and even registered an assist, setting up Beth Mead for the fifth goal as the Gunners thrashed Reading 6-0.

Eidevall lavished praise on Williamson for her intense perseverance and dedication during the recovery period and said: "She works incredibly hard. I don't think anyone who hasn't had an ACL injury can understand all the work that goes behind that to be able to return, so I’m really happy for her as an individual and really happy for the team to get such a great player back. It was great to see both her and Kim Little able to return to play today."

Although the focus remained firmly on Williamson's return to action, Stina Blackstenius made the most of a rare opportunity with an incredible hattrick that inspired Arsenal to the quarter-finals.

Eidevall was fascinated with her performance and added: "I mean, every player wants to start games and every player wants to play most of the games, but the best way to get your way into the starting 11 is the actions you do when you're playing and Stina was one of the players today that that did really really well and that was very pleasing to see."

Eidevall would be keen to hand Williamson a start when Arsenal take on Liverpool on Sunday in the WSL. She looked sharp enough upon her return to competitive action and the Gunners would hope that the 26-year-old gets back to her usual form in the decisive second phase of the season.