Lizzie Arnot talks about return from injury and Scotland ambitions
SWPL Cup Final
Hibernian v Celtic
Sunday, 20 May, kick-off 4.10pm
Falkirk Stadium, Falkirk
Tickets priced £5 Adults and £2 concessions
Live on BBC ALBA
This weekend Lizzie Arnot is hoping to cap off her return from a crushing injury with a cup winners medal.
On Sunday the Hibernian winger will take on Celtic as both sides vie for the first piece of silverware of the season.
Arnot has undergone a tumultuous last year after an ACL injury ruled her out of UEFA Women’s EURO 2017 last summer.
She has fought back though and now has the SWPL Cup in her sights.
Lizzie, what’s it like being back on the pitch after such a long lay-off?
It’s good to be back playing. I’ve played two 90 minutes now so it’s good to get consistency. I’m coming back, enjoying it, and trying to get back to the level I was at before the injury but I’m feeling good.
How did you cope with missing out on UEFA Women’s EURO 2017 after picking up an injury in the build-up to the tournament?
It was obviously tough as that was always an ambition of mine when I was younger, to represent Scotland at a major tournament.
The timing is never good and you do ask yourself, why now? It’s just one of those things though and I tried to attack it with a positive mindset.
I focused on my rehab and didn’t look too much at what I was missing out on.
That was just going to make me feel worse.
It’s happened before to players even younger than me, so I knew there were people I could speak to about it and if I ever needed to ask any questions they were there.
Being out injured made me realise how hard you need to work and not just to take things for granted.
You don’t want to experience a long-term injury but once you have, it makes you stronger.
Are you hoping to be back involved with the national team soon?
I’d like to be back in the squad as soon as possible. I know it’s going to be tough as there’s a lot of competition but that’s what you want as it’ll only make the squad and myself better.
To be part of a squad that could go to a World Cup would be massive.
It’s something I’m working towards.
Hibernian are doing well in the league this season and you’ve adopted the favourites tag ahead of the cup final against Celtic. How will you and the squad cope with that?
We’ve had that sort of pressure before so we know how to deal with it
We have confidence in ourselves but we know Celtic are a tough opposition.
It’s never easy playing against them and with it being a final, anything can happen.
We’ll just try and go in with the same mentality that we have each time we’ve played them and fingers crossed we’ll come out on top again.
I’m really excited about the match.
This time last year I missed out on the final as I had just had my operation and it feels like a landmark moment for me.
To be back and playing in finals, they are the games you want to be involved in.
It’s good to be back and hopefully we can win the trophy again.