Bees midfielder Courtnay Ward-Chambers shared her pleasure at making her return to action after time out on the sidelines through injury.

Our number 12 played the last half hour in yesterday’s Conti Cup defeat after missing out with a serious head injury.

Ward-Chambers expressed her pleasure at getting back out on the grass at Meadow Park yesterday evening and is looking forward to kicking on.

“It’s an amazing feeling, it’s great to be back out there playing with the team, it’s been tough watching from the sidelines so it’s good to back!

“Credit to the girls, we all gave it everything for the full 90 minutes, but we came up against really strong opposition.”

The Bees suffered a 9-0 defeat to the WSL Champions and arguably the best in the country on a tough night in North London.

Ward-Chambers felt that we could have performed better, but was keen to emphasise the difficulty of the task at hand.

“I think we did well in the first 45 minutes to keep them out and shut them off, they are a really good side. We started to dive in a little bit too much in the second half but we can only grow as a team from this experience and make sure we are better next time.”

“We have come a long way since the start of the season and that’s despite injuries that have disrupted the rhythm of our squad.

“It’s Arsenal at the end of the day, they are probably the best team in the country right now so it was always going to be a really tough ask. We aren’t happy with the score but you have to look at tonight with plenty of perspective.”

Our last game before Christmas is up against Blackburn Rovers at The Hive London this Sunday and the Bees have a chance to cement their place in 5th position with a victory.

Our number 12 knows it’s a massive game and has urged her side to bounce back with all three points

“We will always stick together as a team and we will work so hard in training to make sure we’re better for Sunday.”

“This team is such a good group and we all fight for one another. We will go again on Sunday.”