Eva Thomson put in a great performance when she came off the bench in last week’s 3-1 win away at Glasgow Women. The young midfielder looked like she was back near her best after a what she admits has been a difficult campaign personally and for the squad as a whole.

“It’s been a difficult season all round. It’s been tough as a team and for me personally, it’s been really frustrating. Last season I was starting in the team regularly but this season has been hard for me as we have more competition for places and I had a concussion at the start of the year. I missed quite a few games because of that concussion, so it’s been annoying and although I’ve had some good spells, it been a frustrating season overall.”

A training ground collision caused Thomson’s concussion which led to her missing a handful of games and due to her age, the usual concussion protocol was a week longer than for older players. It was a disappointing set-back as the 18-year-old was trying to fight for her place in the team.

“The game before my concussion I started against Spartans and felt I did quite well in that game. Then I got ruled out for a period of games and other players came in, so I couldn’t expect to just walk back in the team. I was out of the Aberdeen team but being involved with Scotland I thought would give me a chance for some game time on my way back but the concussion ruled me out of that as well. I’ve struggled to get back in the team so I’ve just had to work hard to try and get back in.”

Despite the fact she doesn’t turn 19 until June, Eva has already made over 80 appearances for Aberdeen Women since her arrival from Westdyke Ladies. As another batch of youngsters arrived at the start of this campaign, the Scotland under-19 cap finds herself being both one of the youngest yet most experience players in the squad.

“I’m one of the youngest in terms of age but probably one of the more experienced in terms of how many games I’ve played. We had the group that stepped up from the under-nineteens this season and they are all a bit younger than me. They have been getting a lot of game time and for me, if I’m on the pitch it’s part of my responsibilities to help them as much as I can. We are a very young squad but I think that is a good thing as it shows players coming through that they will get opportunities.

I wouldn’t say I’m a very loud person on the pitch, that is a quality that I really want to work on. I’m a very encouraging person but I’m not loud with it. I think I’m quick to go quiet and get a bit down on myself if I make a mistake or I’m not playing well. I think that is maybe quite common in the team and we all need to work on being more positive about ourselves as well as towards each other.”

A quiet and unassuming character off the pitch, Thomson has been a big part of the team’s successes in the past few seasons. She believes a lot of that is down to the team being able to stick together both on and off the field.

“I think the mental side of the game is really important in football. How you feel can impact on performance a lot and how you talk to and encourage others on the pitch can really have an affect on their performance. I think communication is really important in having a good team dynamic. We have a really close squad and we all look out for each other. You get the little arguments on the pitch that you get in every team but we all look out for each other at the same time. It’s good to know that they are there off the pitch too, so whenever someone is going through a hard time away from football, they know we’re there to help.”

After kicking off their post-split fixtures with a win last week, Thomson admits that the season hasn’t been as good as anyone hoped. The teenager is determined to end the campaign on a high though and she wants to play as big a part as possible in that.

“I don’t think we’ve had the best of seasons but there have been times when we have played really well and I think we have improved in certain areas. We are still improving but we need to keep that going both individually and as a collective. The post-split games are very important to us as we’re only just above the relegation play-off spot. We need to pick up as many points as we can over the remaining games. Personally, I just want to be involved as much as possible between now and the end of the season and play as much as I can to help the team have a positive end to the league campaign.”