Chelsea captain Erin Cuthbert radiated relief and elation after featuring in her first match of the season, contributing to Scotland’s emphatic 2-0 victory against the Czech Republic.
Securing a win in the away leg of the Women’s World Cup round-one play-off has placed Scotland in a commanding position ahead of the return fixture in Paisley on Tuesday. The victor is expected to face Sweden.
The 28-year-old had yet to appear for her club this campaign due to a knee injury, but she entered the match in Pardubice as a substitute. Fellow substitute Claire Emslie sealed the win with a superb second goal, building on a stunning opening strike from captain Caroline Weir.
“It’s so good,” Cuthbert told BBC Scotland.
“It’s been such a long summer. It’s always great to come on and play for my country again – I’ll never take it for granted when I get a serious injury.
“I’m just glad to get back on a football pitch. The relief, the amount of self-doubt that you have, the amount of stress – am I going to be back to the same level, how am I going to perform, is my knee going to be alright? All those things run through your head.
“It was a bad one. I was in crutches and a brace for the best part of a month. I lost a fair amount of muscle and over the summer I was trying to rebuild all of that again.
“It’s been a really, really hard journey.”
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