The defender completed 90 minutes as Nick Cushing’s side eased to an impressive win in Round One of the Continental Cup and was delighted to make her full debut after a frustrating start to life in a Blue shirt.
A pre-season recruit, Campbell suffered an ankle injury whilst on international duty, which ruled her out for two months. A cameo appearance in the 1-1 draw with Liverpool marked her official debut, but the 22-year-old was pleased to be in from the off against the WSL 2 outfit.
She told mancity.com: “It was nice to be out on the field with the team and to get an 8-0 win was great. We got another clean sheet too and it’s so good to be back to winning ways.
“It’s taken time but with the staff and the players behind me, I knew it wouldn’t be too long before I could get out on the pitch again. I’m back to full fitness now and raring to go.”
A versatile defender, Campbell slotted in alongside Steph Houghton at centre-half against the Villans, before moving to left-back when Jennifer Beattie replaced Demi Stokes at half-time.
After missing the first half of the season, the Irish international is happy to play in whichever position she’s needed and showed her attacking prowess to set up Nikita Parris for her hat-trick and City’s fifth.
She explained: “I don’t really have a favourite position to be honest. I’ll play anywhere if it means I’m on the pitch!
“Playing at centre-half next to Steph is great because you can see the pitch and you can see where everyone is but when you’re playing at left-back, you have more freedom to get forward and join the attack.
“It’s nice to be around the opposition box rather than your own!”
A long throw specialist, Campbell’s effectiveness in the final third has been evident in her two appearances but despite the obvious advantages, it’s not a tactic she expects the Blues to adopt on a regular basis.
“It’s not something we look to rely on,” she added.
“If we’re in a game and we’re looking to put teams under pressure, like towards the end of the Liverpool game, we’ll use it but that’s not how we play football.
“We play football on the ground and we’re not going to send long throws into the box until it’s needed.”
