Tottenham’s Ashleigh Neville: ‘It’s great being a mum but tiring at times’

Ashleigh Neville joined Tottenham for their first Championship season in 2017 and knows how big the gap was to Arsenal and how far her side have come. “Five or six years ago we’d get battered six- or seven-nil by Arsenal and you’d always dread playing them. I feel like no one had that feeling against them this time,” the full-back says of the 1-1 draw in November which was Arsenal’s first dropped points of the season.

“I remember the 10-0 [in the FA Cup in March 2017] and then I remember playing them last season when we drew them in the Conti Cup: 2-2 and then lost on penalties. I remember celebrating drawing 2-2 with them and a few of the girls looked at me and were like: ‘Why are you celebrating 2-2?’ I said: ‘I’ve been here five or six years now and all I’ve ever done is be smashed by Arsenal and I feel like we’ve achieved something by drawing with them – we’ve worked so hard.’”

Reflecting on the draw in November is “frustrating” though, with Neville having missed a golden opportunity to put her side 2-0 up shortly before the equaliser. “I’ll always look back,” she says of the miss.

Given the 28-year-old’s recent form in front of goal it is perhaps more surprising that she failed to score. Pushed further forward in games against Brighton and Birmingham, Neville scored twice, including breaking the deadlock in the second half of a 2-0 win against the latter. She has been named the Barclays FA WSL player of the month for February and is, fittingly, given her journey with the club, Spurs’s first winner.

“I was on the bench against Brighton having had a bit of an injury a few weeks before and I got told to be ready at any point,” she says. “I was obviously expecting to go on at full-back and then Rehanne [Skinner, the