Leah Williamson: England duty ‘refreshing’ amid poor Arsenal run

England captain Leah Williamson has admitted it is “refreshing” to be back with the Lionesses ahead of their two friendlies against Germany and South Africa amid turbulence at Arsenal.

Williamson returned to England duty on Monday as part of manager Sarina Wiegman’s 24-player squad following a testing period for Arsenal.

Jonas Eidevall resigned as manager last week after the club were humbled 5-2 by Bayern Munich in the Champions League and a 2-1 loss to Chelsea in the Women’s Super League (WSL).

Having been with Arsenal since preseason due to the lack of a September international window, the England captain admitted that she was happy to be back with the Lionesses and that the break from club football has come at the “right time.”

“I’m a footballer, our job is to win games and that hasn’t happened so smoothly,” she told a news conference on Thursday.

“Results tell a story, performance is another thing that you can actually change and affect on a day-to-day basis and to be honest, I’m happy to be here in a different environment. I think sometimes that comes at the right time and since I’ve been here, I’ve had no contact with club.

“To be here in this environment is refreshing, obviously; it is natural for that to be the case at this time and playing for this team, everyone knows how much we love it. I think you see that every day.

“It’s been a different start to the season. Obviously, we’ve been at club for a long time. Normally, we’d have an international break window before this so it’s been different in that sense of being there [with Arsenal] for so long and being in one place, we’re not used to that.”