With 55 minutes on the clock at the Select Car Leasing Stadium on Sunday there was a welcome figure wearing number 12 lurking on the touchline.
Five months after suffering an ACL injury playing for England under 23s against Holland in April, Reading FC Women forward Emma Harries was about to return to action.
It was a welcome boost as well for the Royals who were beaten 2-1 in the Continental Cup by Tottenham Hotspur in the game to make it three defeats in a row since the start of FA Women’s Super League season, and suffered the loss of their other superstar Deanne Rose in the 4-0 defeat to Manchester United on the opening day.
Writing on Twitter, Harries said: “Wow! I am overwhelmed with the support and messages from yesterday’s game. It’s been the toughest 6 months of my career, but, I can finally say I’m back!! I want to say a massive thank you to everyone that has supported me through this tough time.
“To my amazing partner, family, teammates, physios, agent and every single member of staff at Reading & England – THANK YOU! I wouldn’t have been able to do this without you. I can’t wait to push on and help the team as much as I can! Let’s go.”
Royals boss Kelly Chambers now has a fortnight to prepare for the visit of Arsenal on Sunday 16th October, albeit without several of Reading’s international stars who’ll feature in the international break. All the latest fixtures on our new service here.
