Joe Montemurro has a very clear plan for Fran Stenson's development.
Our goalkeeper spent last season on loan at Championship side Blackburn Rovers, where she was named Young Player of the Season for a string of eye-catching performances.
And now Stenson is back with us in north London, Montemurro is keen to see her kick on with the next stage of her development.
"The loan worked perfectly for us," he said. "We targeted her and understood that it was important that she played, it was important that she was getting minutes but also training with us. We were able to give her the stimulus, the high level of training that we felt she needed, but then she was also able to get 90 minutes on the weekend.
"With that, I need to thank Blackburn because they adhered to everything we requested. It was invaluable that she played and also important that she got the training stimulus in preparation for coming in full-time with us this year.
"It's very, very difficult first of all to recruit a goalkeeper of this calibre and to keep her in the ranks. They are obviously pleading for gametime and probably sometimes go to other situations where they're guaranteed gametime but I have to credit Fran in understanding where she's at and where she wants to be.
"We've put a proper succession plan in place for her over the next two years or 18 months, which will see that growth happen in the right way. That's exciting and I give all credit to her maturity and her decision in wanting to be part of that process."
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