It has been a long road back to the Northern Ireland squad for Montrose Women goalkeeper Lauren Perry.
The 22-year-old has been recalled to the national team by Tanya Oxtoby for the upcoming Uefa Nations League two-legged play-off against Montenegro.
It is Perry’s first call-up in several years and if she was to play she would earn her first cap since 2018.
But the journey to being recalled has not been easy for the five-time capped international, who was ruled out for most of last season after rupturing her ACL while at Dundee United.
It was the second time she had sustained the serious knee injury, having done the same in her other knee in the summer of 2018.
At times a comeback to football looked so far away, never mind a return to international football.
“When you are going through the rehab, there are some really tough days,” said Perry, who is from Ballynahinch in County Down.
“You do start to think: ‘wow, this is never going to happen again’ and my recovery the second time around was a lot harder.
“It was a lot tougher to come back from and I thought maybe my time had passed. It was more other people telling me that I was still young and I did have time on my side to get back playing.
“I had an internal brace the first time I did my ACL and was back playing within six months, but the second time I had a lot of complications with surgery.
“I’m just so grateful for the opportunity to firstly get back playing at club and now with Northern Ireland.”
Northern Ireland call-up makes Perry a Montrose history-maker
Perry’s call-up has made history as she is the first Montrose Women’s player to be called up for a senior international while at the club – and she credits the Gable Endies support for her return to form.
The custodian has established herself as Montrose’s number one since signing in the summer, having played in all 20 of their SWPL games this season.
“The girls are so supportive of me,” said Perry. “They have been even more excited than me.
“I was so grateful for the opportunity to join the club. I hadn’t played because I was injured and they were on a high from being promoted, so it was a bit of a risk for them to sign me.
“They didn’t know what my form would be, but, thankfully, I have been able to reach the standard I was at before my injury.
“I’m only getting better and so are the team. I can only thank Montrose and Craig (Feroz, manager) because they have played a massive part in this.”
Perry wants to be part of Northern Ireland’s progress
Since she was last involved with her national team, Northern Ireland have featured at their first-ever major tournament when they played at the delayed 2021 European Championships.
Perry’s personal ambitions for the upcoming camp is to stake her claim to make sure her involvement does not prove to be a rare occurrence.
And she has high hopes for the squad, too, as she believes a debut major tournament appearance has to be just the beginning.
“I used to watch the team when I was young from the stands and the progress since then is phenomenal,” said Perry.
“When I was first capped, we had maybe 50 people in the stands but now we are getting thousands watching us.
“Kenny Shiels (former manager) took the team to the Euros and that was a massive achievement – and I know it is something Tanya wants to do again.
“We want to qualify for another major tournament and show the progress we’re making.”
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