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Humphrey - What I gained from loan spell

By Connor Armstrong

Last season was a learning curve for Carla Humphrey - both on and off the pitch.

The 20-year-old forward is a product of the club's development programme, but spent last term on loan with Doncaster Rovers Belles.

They finished bottom of WSL 1, but Humphrey is still confident that her time away from the club will serve her on her return to north London.

"I really enjoyed it," she told Arsenal Player. "Obviously the team at Doncaster didn’t do so well points-wise on the table, we got three points in the last game of the season. But it was a great experience for me.

"I learnt a lot on the pitch, playing week in, week out against people that I’ll be playing against this year in WSL 1. I had a lot of fun playing football every week and I added attributes to my game. My strength I knew I needed to work on and I worked on that last year and tried to put it into the games and hopefully I can bring that back to the team this year.

"I learnt a lot about myself. I moved away, so I'd always been living in Cambridge but I moved to Doncaster and had to be independent and do everything for myself, which made me grow as a person.

"I’d say that I realised how much Arsenal give to their players. Obviously Doncaster have a lesser budget having just come up from WSL 2, but how well you are looked after and treated at Arsenal stood out to me.

"Now I really appreciate everything that we get given even more. And also, just the experience that I gained from playing [will serve me well]."