Arsenal Ladies v Everton - Preview

 It’s been a whirlwind year for Jordan Nobbs.

Rewind 12 months and the youngster was on the cusp of the England squad. At club level, she was starting to regularly produce the effervescent displays that have been so key to the Ladies’ counter-attacking style.

It came as no surprise when Nobbs’ fine form saw her receive a first call-up to the national team squad for the European Championship qualifier against Croatia last September.

And while she did not get on the pitch in that game, when she eventually did make her international debut against Italy at the Cyprus Cup in March this year, Nobbs demonstrated her knack of netting spectacular goals, crashing home a shot into the top corner from 25 yards.

She continued to catch the eye for the Ladies too, opening her account for the new season with a beautifully-taken strike against ASD Torres in the Champions League quarter-finals and producing a Player of the Match display in the FA Women’s Cup final win against Bristol Academy.

Sandwiched in between was a nomination for the inaugural PFA Women’s Player of the Year award - a reminder of just how much the 20-year-old has developed. In the end, the gong went to team-mate and midfield colleague Kim Little.

A place in England’s squad at Euro 2013 in Sweden seemed guaranteed and it came as no great surprise when Nobbs was named in Hope Powell’s 23-woman squad.

Despite a series of impressive performances in the lead up to the tournament, Nobbs was not used by Powell as England bowed out at the group stage.

But with a bright future beckoning, Nobbs insists that she has learned valuable lessons from her experiences in Scandinavia.

“We've still got to take the positives from what we've done and it was still a privilege for me to be out there at such a young age,” she told Arsenal.com. “I'll take each step and hopefully be able to progress more.

“You can take negatives and positives from the tournament. Hopefully if I get selected for another training camp or major tournament I can improve on things. I'm training harder at Arsenal to prove that I can be part of the squad.”

That extra work on the training pitch has become increasingly apparent in the games that have followed the summer break.

Deployed in a more advanced position by boss Shelley Kerr, the midfielder’s game has continued to flourish - only Ellen White has scored more goals than Nobbs’ eight so far this season.

She returned to Women’s Super League action with a brace against Liverpool and added to that with a precisely-executed 25-yard lob against Everton on Thursday night.

“In the past two games, I've played in a higher role,” she explained. “I've got three games in my past two games so I think it's a positive thing. It's always good as a midfielder to try different positions and get to know each role better.

“It's all credit to most of the girls here because they're pushing me as well and hopefully they can keep doing that and I can keep progressing.

“It's nice to keep getting some goals and I think that's what's keeping my confidence is a bit higher and stronger. I've still got to train extra hard because I want to go into the main England squad and progress from there.”

England return to action with a World Cup qualifier against Belarus in September. On this form, Nobbs will be very hard to leave off the teamsheet.

But before that, there is a WSL trophy to fight for - starting with Sunday’s home clash against Everton. Nobbs acknowledges that the league is improving year on year but believes that the Ladies can use that to their advantage.

“I think it's really positive for our leagues that the teams are getting stronger,” she stated. “Teams sometimes question Arsenal but it's getting more and more exciting for us to play against harder and better teams and we've gone out after the break and proved what we can do.”