Umotong spoke after a demanding three days of training in the unforgiving Spanish heat, and highlighted the positives of holding a camp like this later on in pre-season.
She said, “It’s been intense, but so beneficial for us to gel even more together as a team. We have a few new additions that have been very good for us on the pitch, and off it in terms of their personalities. All of us have moulded together to form a good unit.
“At first they were quite shy and reserved, but when you’re in an environment where you’re constantly together, it pulls out your personality, and that’s what has happened for the four of them. It’s nice to see them enjoying it.
“This camp as opposed to last year’s has been a lot more football orientated. You wake up and go straight to the pitch, have a gym on site, and everything is right here, whereas in Portugal last year, everything was much more spread out.
“We only had one new player in Portugal there, because we had several players that signed once we got back. This time, everyone is here and it’s really helped us.”
The Nigeria international heads into the 2019/20 season with an FA Women’s Super League campaign already behind her, and feels that experience will stand her in good stead when she comes head to head with the very best players once again.
“Last season I was coming into the unknown at this level, but now I have one year behind me and I’ve played against a lot of defenders in this league and studied their strengths and weaknesses throughout the season.
“I’ll be looking to hit those targets with a lot more knowledge, and I want to be a lot more consistent in my performances. I want to help the team as much as I can, whether that’s assisting or scoring goals.”
Hope Powell’s side play their next pre-season match in a behind-closed-doors friendly against Valencia this afternoon, and Umotong is excited to pit her wits against the Spanish giants.
“It’s a completely different style of play, they’re a complete unknown quantity to us, even though we expect them to be a very good side.
“We haven’t seen any of their players play in person before, but we’re very excited to play against a very different style of football.”