Maisy Barker, an Ipswich Town full-back, believes switching sides will add a goalscoring dimension to her game as the club looks to make a strong push for promotion this season.
Town has three victories and one draw in their first three games of the Women’s National League Southern Premier, with 13 goals scored and only two conceded.
Barker scored in Sunday’s 5-0 triumph over Lewes, after manager Joe Sheehan shifted him to the left side from the right.
“I want to improve my game by earning more goals and assists. “Hopefully it’s a good start for the season,” she told BBC Radio Suffolk.
“The left side allows me to sprint up and down, using my speed to benefit the team. It can really highlight my strengths, and if I can score and assist more, I’ll be thrilled.”
She kept going: “This league is very competitive and getting as many goals as we can helps with our confidence – and when it comes to the end of the season, it’s always positive to get these results.”
Ipswich made half a dozen recruits this summer, with several of them having experience in the top two categories of the women’s game, and Barker believes the squad is unquestionably stronger.
“We’re such a together group and it’s showing on the pitch,” she joked.
“We’re all working for each other, and we all want to support and do the dirty work for one another. The unity and friendship are unbelievable.”
Exeter City, who are ahead of Town on goal differential, are the only team to penetrate their defence this season, taking a 2-0 lead when they played earlier this month before Ipswich responded with an Ella Rutherford double to earn a point.
“Clean sheets are as important as scoring goals – if we don’t keep clean sheets then we’re not doing our job as a backline,” commented Barker. “We need to keep working, keep connecting.”
Manager Sheehan believes the victory over Lewes was a “important reaction” to the stalemate in Devon.
“We wanted to get back on track in terms of performance levels and winning ways and we’ve been able to do both parts of that,” he told me.