Brighton & Hove Albion midfielder Chloe Peplow cannot wait to face her hometown club tonight, when the side play Birmingham City in the FA Women's Super League.
The Seagulls take on the Blues in their second FA WSL match of the season, and Peplow explained the importance that the club had on her development as a player.
She said, “It will be exciting to go back.
“I’ve got a lot of love for the club, as they helped me get to where I am in my career and still hold a special place in my heart."
“Whenever you go back to a club you have played for, there is always a bit of rivalry, but the main focus for me is to help the team get three points.”
The 19-year-old spent the early weeks of the season out in France playing for England’s Under-20 side who finished third in the World Cup, but insisted she had no problems adjusting back to club football.
“I settled straight back in. I managed to get a bit of pre-season under my belt; I went away to the camp in Portugal and was here for a few weeks before that.
“I fitted straight back in though and the girls have been a massive part of that; they made the transition so much easier."
The match against Birmingham is the second of three matches in the space of eight days, but the midfielder is confident that the team can cope with the demanding fixture schedule.
“It’s always hard when we have three games in a week.
“It minimises the time you can spend on the pitch because you have to take time out to travel and then recover after games, but we’ve gone through a hard pre-season and we'll be ready for it.”
Albion head into the match after securing their first win of the season at the weekend with a 3-1 victory over London Bees, whch Peplow hopes will give them confidence.
"We needed that win. We put in a good performance and will set us up well going into the Birmingham match.
"We know that we face a difficult game ahead of ourselves, but anything can happen in a game of football, so it’s important that we perform well on the day.
“They’ll be hard to beat, but I think we’ve got the players capable of winning the game, and I'm sure it will be an exciting one.”