2021 was a successful year for our number 22, who picked up a raft of Player of the Match awards, was named as Scotland’s Player of the Year and contributed to the team securing the impressive domestic quadruple.

Cuthbert enjoyed her Christmas break back home and discusses the difficulty of relaxing and falling out of schedule.

‘It was good to be home even if it was for a short period of time, it’s definitely what’s needed to break the football season up a little bit,’ Cuthbert explained.Now Emma Hayes’ side have been back to work at Cobham as the team looks to start the new year with a return to winning ways.

‘It feels good to be back, I think I probably speak for all footballers when I say this, when you go home, and you get out of a routine it’s really tough. You’re not sure what to do with yourself, you want to work to a schedule, you work to a schedule every day and you don’t have that at home, it’s really difficult.

‘It’s great being back on track and getting up early, getting myself back into a routine.’

The 23-year-old Scottish forward reflects on a disappointing end to 2021 and explains her ambitions for the new year ahead.

‘For me, it’s competing on all fronts. Continually trying to keep myself in the team week in, week out playing consistently. I think consistency in my game is really important going forward and I want to be getting to the point where Emma wants to keep me in the team.’

The Blues’ final game of 2021 saw us knocked out of the Champions League to VFL Wolfsburg in the group stages, but Cuthbert is also quick to point out all the successes that the year brought and looks ahead to an exciting raft of matches for the remainder of the season.

‘As a team I would say we want to compete for all the trophies, we want to continually be in a position where we can win trophies. Yes, we’re out of the Champions League but we’ve still got the FA Cup, the Continental Cup and the league to contend for all in this six-month period.

‘It’s going to be really, really busy but we’re going to need the whole squad because with everything going on at the moment you never know what can happen. We all have to be ready, you have to be ready at any given moment because football is unpredictable at the moment.’

‘We didn’t end the year on a good note in terms of the last couple of games, but we forget that we won an FA Cup final so I think we need to keep that in our heads, we won four trophies last year. Sometimes you lose sight and you think of the most recent thing, but I think it’s important to acknowledge your achievements and take that into this year because it’s a tough league and every game is going to be difficult.’

Away from the football, Cuthbert has her own New Year’s resolutions.

‘I want to go on more walks and get into nature as much as I can. With all the uncertainty over Covid and everything I think it’s really important you clear your mind because in football we live in such a bubble, stepping outside that bubble is important too.

‘I’d also like to see my friends and family as much as possible and appreciate the time. I didn’t have a lot of time at home and you have to really appreciate the time when you get it because it’s very few and far between at the moment. For us, sometimes it’s so easy to say we’re tired or we’ve got a game, as long as it doesn’t affect your preparations I think it’s important because it can really help your mental health as well and that’s just as important as performing at times.

Our number 22 also wants to improve on her golfing skills. Despite taking lessons, the forward has the ultimate ambition of winning a game of golf against her father.

‘I’m getting better and better, hopefully when the warmer weather comes in I would like to get out a lot more. It’s good to clear my mind again, but I want to be good at golf because I don’t like doing something if I’m not good at it. My aim this year is to beat my dad at one game of golf! That will be my biggest achievement.

‘I want to continually better myself off the pitch by doing courses and learning more about myself and about business, I’ve got a big interest in business and marketing side of things, so doing courses here and there can be really good and a good way to switch off from football when I get home.

'I like to be kept busy, I like learning and I like to constantly be improving myself and that hopefully one day will show in my footballing performances as well.’

Following the postponement of Friday’s game against Tottenham Hotspur, the Blues are back in action next Sunday when we travel to Everton in the FA WSL.