Erin Cuthbert knows she is not guaranteed a starting berth in the Chelsea team this season, despite having been named club captain in the summer.
The 28-year-old sustained a knee injury back in June while on international duty for Scotland and, since working her way back to fitness earlier this month, has made two appearances from the bench.
Her humility in this regard displays perfectly why she has been named as skipper and you definitely won’t see any pouting from her.
‘I've been out for so long; I don't expect to walk back into this team,’ she said in the press conference to preview our UEFA Women’s Champions League game against Roma on Wednesday night. ‘Everybody's been performing, especially in my position.
‘It’s tough competition at the moment and, whenever the minutes come, it is about giving the gaffer a headache and making an impact. Sometimes it's starting the game, sometimes from the bench.
‘I'm always that player who’s never going to be in a huff if I'm on the bench, not going to be happy and not going to try and make an impact when I come on, because for me it's all about the team and how I can help the team.’
Cuthbert was introduced in place of Maika Hamano at half-time against Crystal Palace on Sunday, while Sandy Baltimore also came on for Alyssa Thompson.
At that point we were losing 1-0, before a brace from Melvine Malard and a penalty by Baltimore sealed a 3-1 victory, and Cuthbert was delighted to have played a part in the turnaround.
‘We were 1-0 and the gaffer called upon me at half-time,’ she explained. ‘I knew I was ready and I wanted to be the one who made an impact. Obviously that ended up being Sandy on the day, which I'm delighted about, but for me it was just about keeping the momentum in the second half and dragging the team forward.
‘I’m taking my minutes as we go. I feel that I'm now at a good physical level where I can keep giving Sonia those headaches.’
Bompastor has discovered a winning midfield formula in Cuthbert’s absence, fielding Chelsea Academy graduate Lexi Potter in the holding role with Keira Walsh further forward chasing goals and assists. The captain was asked what it’s been like for her to watch the partnership blossom from the sidelines.
‘Quality, to be honest,’ she replied. ‘It's been fun to watch them both. They are both very different players from myself, so it's definitely been a different profile in midfield, but they complement each other really well. It's a really good partnership.
‘It’s tough competition, but I feel like when you're at a club like Chelsea, if you don't have competition in your position then the gaffer's probably going to end up buying some.
‘So I know it's tough, but I have to focus on my qualities, getting myself physically back to the top and then competing from there.
‘As a player, sometimes you can get rushed back in, but for me that's certainly not been the case. I've taken it really easy and I feel that we've had a really good plan in place. The transparency between me and the gaffer has been really clear. She knows what she wants from me.
‘I went away in the national team and had good minutes. The collaboration between club and country was so good. It's made me come back in a better place and I now feel that I'm in a position to play more minutes.
‘Whether I do or not, that's up to the manager, but I feel ready and I feel like I can make an impact in games now.’
Having been at Chelsea for all but the first two of our 20 trophy wins, Cuthbert has seen plenty of players come and go.
Yet last year saw three of her closest friends – Millie Bright, Sam Kerr and Guro Reiten – depart the club as new players came in. While Cuthbert was undoubtedly sad to see them go, she is just as excited to begin a new era at Chelsea, as she also explained what she felt was lacking last season.
‘There's change every year, but I think especially this year was the biggest change in terms of personnel. A lot of my good friends departed the club, people I've known for so long. For me, when I say Chelsea, they're all I've ever known. It's definitely been different, but you've got to adapt as a football player.
‘I was in a really lucky position where I had best friends that I had played with for 10 years. That's also not normal. It’s about celebrating that, but also moving forward.
‘Football moves on. It’s a fast-changing game and we've brought in a lot of players with a lot of quality. Though my friends will always be my best friends, I now have new team-mates that I want to achieve success with and they've come to Chelsea to win trophies. So that's what I want from them.
‘I feel like last season, the quality was always there. We just weren't clicking and Man City in the end ran away with the league, but we were there or thereabouts in terms of the [Women’s FA Cup] semi-final.
‘It was defined by small margins in the FA Cup and it was the same in the Champions League as well. We were always there or thereabouts, but I feel like this time the team has gone up another level as a group.’