Fliss Gibbons is ready to return to WSL action – whenever that might be.
The Albion left-back has been adapting to the challenges posed by the coronavirus shutdown.
Similar to the men’s squad, Hope Powell’s team have been given the equipment they need to keep fit at home.
They train as a group via Zoom video link and do their own thing in the afternoon.
For Gibbons, that means going out to a suitably lonely field near her home and doing her own work.
The usual group training is on hold indefinitely, as is the WSL season itself with no certainty as to when or if it will be completed.
Powell is taking the approach of not expecting or predicting anything and being ready to adapt to whatever happens.
Gibbons will do similarly as the absences goes on.
Albion’s players are not in the same financial bracket as many of the men’s Premier League stars who have been posting on social media.
Gibbins said: “I don’t have a luxury swimming pool or a home gym.
“But you have just got to make the most of a bad situation.
“I have some equipment which I can make work for an upper body and lower body gym session.
“Gym sessions are quite easily adaptable and they seem to be in fashion at the moment.
“So many people are posting home workouts and sofa workouts and all sorts of things.
“The access to that sort of thing is okay.
“In regards to going out on the pitch, I’m quite lucky in being able to go out in a remote area where I don’t get probably within 20 metres of anyone else.
“I can take cones with me and complete sessions as best I can.
“I think it is just about being flexible and being able to work around the boundaries.
“It is a bit of a makeshift gym session but I am still getting out of it what I need to “Whatever the coaches are asking me to do, I am managing to complete it.”
Gibbons is keen to keep a structure to her day.
She said: “It’s a really confusing time for everyone, isn’t it?
“Everyone’s going to have ups and downs, good days and bad days “I feel quite lucky in the situation I am in and I feel like I still have a structure to my day which involves being in contact with people at football.
“I plan my day the night before.
“Four days a week we join in with an online gym session we all do together.
“That takes up most of the morning.
“In the afternoon I often have a gym session.”
Gibbons has not had to dip into the wealth of vintage football being shown on television and online as yet.
She said: ““I haven’t watched any of it but I have seen there are a few older games.
“I know there is a version of Match Of The Day on a Saturday night which I think I might have to get into when I really start missing football!
“But staying in contact with the girls is my way of staying attached to the game.”
Albion’s players are proud of the team spirit they have engendered.
Gibbons is happy that will not diminish during their weeks apart.
She added: “There is a lot going on with our Whatsapp group, probably even more so than when we see each other every day!”
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