Liverpool winger Melissa Lawley has been shortlisted for November's Women's Super League Player of the Month award.
Lawley has impressed for the Reds this term on their return to the the top-flight of the women's game, and has registered three assists in her last two league games. Her string of impressive performances has even prompted manager Matt Beard to tip the forward for a potential England call-up, more than three years after her last senior cap.
"I wouldn't be surprised if England are looking at her, especially with Beth Mead's injury," the Liverpool boss said after his side's 3-3 draw with Reading last week. "I think Mel, on her day, can win games by herself."
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For Lawley though, the focus is firmly on Liverpool, who have struggled for form in the WSL this season, having failed to pick up a win since their shock opening day victory over Chelsea. However, the 28-year-old is confident the Reds will start getting points on the board and believes their recent performances are a sign the club is headed in the right direction
“For the last two years at the club under Beardy, the group has been so together," Lawley told the ECHO. "The results haven’t gone the way we wanted, but we’re still sticking together, still having a laugh, joking around but then once we get onto the training pitch its like ‘right, we’ve got work to do and we’ve got to be better than we were last time’.
She added: “We do need to start getting points on the board but if you look at the Brighton game, we did well not to lose that game because we were losing 3-1 at half-time. We stuck together, scored two more goals and got the point. Even in the group, there’s still belief that we can go and win games."
That undercurrent of quiet resilience has been something of hallmark of Lawley's career to date. When the winger joined Birmingham City in 2013, she had to juggle her playing career with a part-time job as a care-worker, often working night shifts before heading into training.
“When I was at Birmingham, it was part time at the start so on my days off I’d be doing 12 hour shifts, either in the day or in the night," she said.
"Then I’d be trying to balance it with training. It was hard to juggle and when I look back now it’s hard to see how you can do that while still trying to perform as a professional athlete.
“My mum and dad were such a massive impact on my football when I was younger. I wouldn’t be where I am without them. Some days I wouldn’t want to go to training because I was so tired from work and some days they’d force me to go out when it was cold and I’m so grateful they kept pushing me."
Lawley's eye-catching displays for Birmingham earned her a move to the reigning WSL champions, Manchester City , in 2016. However, after clocking up 51 appearances in four years at the Academy Stadium, the winger made the switch to Liverpool in 2019.
It wasn't the easiest start to life on Merseyside for Lawley, with the Reds suffering relegation in her first season at the club. But after earning promotion back to the WSL, Lawley is determined to ensure Liverpool re-establish themselves as a permanent fixture in the women's top-flight.
And Matt Beard's side will have the opportunity to add to their points tally with the visit of West Ham to Prenton Park on Sunday; the first of three consecutive home games before Christmas.
Reflecting on this weekend's clash with the Hammers, Lawley said: “It’s going to be a tough game but we’ve just got to work off the last couple of performances and stop conceding silly goals and giving silly free-kicks and corners away. We’ve just got to focus on ourselves and go out there and perform the way we can. We don’t want to put too much pressure on ourselves because with the squad we’ve got, we know we’re capable of beating them and getting the three points.”
The other nominees for November's Player of the Month of the Award are Danielle Carter (Brighton), Frida Maanum (Arsenal), Rachel Daly (Aston Villa), Guro Reiten (Chelsea), Khadija Shaw (Manchester City) and Katie Zelem (Manchester United).
You can vote for Lawley here.
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