Joining us from Aston Villa in June, the Scotland international made her first appearance in Lilywhite in our 1-0 win over Granada at the weekend and last night, she got off the mark for the Club.
Making her first start under Martin Ho in our pre-season friendly against Real Madrid, Kirsty picked out top the right corner with a fantastic curling shot from the edge of the box on the left, showcasing what she could be capable of once the 2026/27 Women’s Super League campaign gets underway.
Although quickfire strikes from Felicia Schoder and Linda Caicedo midway through the first half cancelled out her early goal, which condemned us to a 2-1 defeat at Pinatar Arena, our new number 16 revealed she had been practicing that exact strike in warm-up, albeit they didn’t go exactly planned compared to the one in the match.
Speaking to us after the game, Kirsty spoke about her first goal for the Club: “It was quite funny because I've been practicing that sort of shot from training and even in the warm-up, it wasn't working and then it just happened and that was quite fun.
“[I’m] delighted to get on the scoresheet. I'm proud to play for the team because we played really well today. I'm proud to represent the Club and hopefully I can build on that.”
Despite suffering a narrow defeat to the Liga F runners-up last term, and regular members of the UEFA Women’s Champions League, Kirsty feels the performance overall can build good stead for the upcoming season.
“I'm really proud of the team today,” she added. “We played some good football and it was obviously two disappointing goals [to concede], but I think that's the only chances they really had.
“Obviously they were dangerous on the attack, but we played some good football. If we obviously build on that and take that into the league, I think we'll play some good football. We want to play regular football against these types of teams, so it was a good challenge and one that we'll learn from.”
Asked about how the first few weeks of pre-season has been, Kirsty said: “I'm settling in really well. The team, the whole staff and the players have been so welcoming. It's been a tough pre-season, Martin is challenging us but that's what I need, that's what the team needs and that's how you can get the best out of us. We're in a really good place and we're playing some exciting football. I can't wait to see what we can do in the league."