InterviewLeanne Kiernan: I'm feeling stronger and now want to keep going
To say Leanne Kiernan still has a beaming smile on her face is an understatement.
After suffering a serious injury on the opening day of the 2022-23 campaign, the Liverpool FC Women forward has faced a tough time working hard to get back to full fitness.
Following a number of substitute appearances for the Reds so far this season, Kiernan’s efforts were rewarded with a start during Wednesday night’s 2-1 win over Everton Women in the Continental League Cup.
The No.9 completed the full game and almost capped an impressive display with a goal, only to be denied by a fine save from Everton goalkeeper Courtney Brosnan.
Matt Beard’s side are now preparing for their final outing of 2023 on Sunday, when they travel to face Manchester United Women in the Barclays Women’s Super League. Kick-off at Leigh Sports Village is set for 12.15pm GMT.
Ahead of that trip, Liverpoolfc.com caught up with Kiernan at the AXA Melwood Training Centre to reflect on her first 90 minutes in a while and hear her hopes for the rest of the campaign…
On her first start in 15 months…
It felt really nice to put myself into a position to be able to start again. I’ve worked really hard and the physios have had a lot of work with me so I feel like it was nice to be rewarded with a start. The body the next day was struggling a bit but it was just nice to get out there again and we are good to go again.
On having worked so hard to get back in the starting XI again…
Literally! Sometimes even in the middle of rehab I didn’t think that could happen sometimes. Originally it was only meant to be a four- or five-month injury, and then a year passed and I still wasn’t out on the pitch and you start to question ‘Am I not doing enough?’ and is it going to get better? But I believe in our physio Chris Underwood and he was brilliant with me.
I think I had seven setbacks, so I would get back on the pitch and train for a few weeks and then go back into the gym, so it was quite tough and mentally draining. It’s just about looking at the positives and I learned a lot from my injury about myself and about football I guess. I’m probably a bit more tactically aware coming back now and I feel like I’m stronger in different areas of the body I have to work on.
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Watch on YouTubeOn whether she feels mentally stronger now having gone through this experience…
For sure, because there were several months when I was just like, ‘What have I done?’ and it won’t go right for me. But I guess everybody has challenges in life and it’s how you overcome them. It kind of makes you enjoy it more. I enjoy being in training every day because I know that it’s not possible for some people, so it has been really sweet being back.
On how she felt during the 90 minutes against Everton…
I was disappointed when I went one versus one with Courtney but when I look back on it now, I know I have to tidy up on a few things like my touch and my finishing, but that will definitely come. I just need to appreciate that and I’ve worked hard to get this far now. That was one of my main goals this year: to tick off a 90 minutes. Now I’ve ticked that box, we go again.
On a really positive night for the team with the derby win…
Listen, if you are playing Everton no matter if it’s a friendly or behind closed doors, a WSL game or a cup game, it’s an important game as we know in the Liverpool community. Every game against Everton is going to be a battle and it was nice to come out on top.
On how big a week it is facing Manchester United on the back of Everton…
Massive! I’m excited for this one and been looking forward to this game all week. It should be a good one and we are very close in terms of points in the WSL so we’ve got to make sure we up our game on Sunday.
On whether this game can be a marker in terms of where the team want to get to in challenging for a top-four place…
For sure, but as every year comes we are getting more facilities, better players, everything. We want to compete and we are not here just to sit in mid-table. We want to compete with the big teams and we know that on our day we are good enough to compete with the big teams, so we are really looking forward to it.
On last Sunday’s 1-1 draw with Bristol City in the WSL…
We were disappointed with how we played in the first half because we know and the fans know that is not our usual standard. But I guess you have games like that in football and the best thing about football is you can go again the next day. We’ve worked on a few things and made little tweaks and that so hopefully it will go our way on Sunday.
On what it would mean to go level on points with United with a win on Sunday…
That would be nice, wouldn’t it, going into Christmas. Having Christmas dinner after a win over United, I wouldn’t complain about that!
On her ambitions for the rest of 2023-24…
Right now it’s really important for me to stay mentally strong and confident in how I play and trust my body to bring me back to the highest standard that I can be at. It’s really important that I stay injury-free for the next months and really work hard on tweaks in my game that will just get me back to where I was.
This article has been automatically translated and, while all reasonable efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, some errors in translation are possible. Please refer to the original English-language version of the article for the official version.