AFC Bournemouth
Gemma McGuinness has timed her return to perfection, as she prepares to feature at Vitality Stadium once again.
The forward had previously been out for a couple of weeks with a slight calf pull, an injury which meant she did not feature for Steve Cuss’s side at Keynsham Town last month.
But having come off the bench for the Cherries in their 3-0 victory at Maidenhead last time out, the team’s joint-top scorer is delighted to be back for the home game against Keynsham at Vitality Stadium tomorrow (2pm kick-off).
“I have been doing a lot of work in the past couple of weeks with the physio in rehab,” said McGuinness, who has been an integral part of the Dorset club’s unbeaten National League South campaign.
“Even when you are watching training and doing your rehab, it’s been more frustrating than anything. It’s lucky enough it was only a slight pull – it was nothing serious.
“I was delighted to get out there and get a couple of minutes under my belt. Hopefully that’s the start of it now. If I can get back up and get a few goals, that would be nice.
“I just want to get myself in the starting line-up again. I will have to work hard and make sure that happens.”
McGuinness, who caught the eye of manager Steve Cuss while on loan at Keynsham before joining the Cherries, works as a performance nutritionist away from football.
On the pitch, she insists the appetite for goals is stronger than ever, with the club having netted a century in total for the campaign.
The Moville-born forward has contributed 17 of those, level with the number netted by teammate Lucy Cooper.
McGuinness found the target when the Cherries overcame Portishead Town 4-0 at Vitality Stadium back in November.
“We just want to keep going and winning every game, putting goals in the back of the net and doing all the right things in our performances,” said McGuinness.
“We’ve got such an attacking mindset in this team. With the fans coming out, we want to put on a show for them as well.
“We love playing at the Vitality Stadium. The fact we get to do it three times a season so far is fantastic.
“The fact you have that atmosphere, it helps massively. When the games get a bit tough and your legs are heavy towards the end, you can hear the fans in the stadium give you that extra bit of momentum.
“It’s exciting after the game to see all the kids there – that gives you that extra bit of drive that you are doing it to inspire a younger generation as well.
“Even getting a couple of hundred fans of Ringwood has been good for us but when you hear about the number of tickets that have been sold so far, it makes you really want to put in the extra effort on the day as well.
“We’re always going to give 100 per cent but to see the crowd out there is really going to drive us on.”
To book tickets and select seats for the Keynsham game, click here.
