The midfielder is determined to play her part as Albion plot a way up the WSL table, starting against Leicester City at the King Power Stadium on Sunday, after recovering from a broken rib which kept her out for three months.
Connolly returned to action in the Conti Cup win over London City Lionesses and played in Albion’s last WSL fixture – a 3-1 defeat at Manchester City.
That was six weeks ago and a lot has changed since then. As well as the appointment of Scheuer, Albion have added Guro Bergsvand, Dejana Stefanovic, Zoe Morse and Briana Visalli to the playing squad.
“It feels like a clean slate after the first half of the season, when we were below the expectations that we set ourselves as a squad,” she said.
“It’s great to have Jens in and we’ve had a really good ten days on the training ground working on how he wants us to play. Every manager has different ideas but for players it’s the same, you want to impress them so you get in the team.”
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It’s the start of an important year for the 25-year-old who helped Ireland qualify for their first World Cup finals, which take place this summer in Australia and New Zealand.
But her priority is to help Albion climb the table. Currently 11th, a win on Sunday could lift us up to eighth if other results go our way. And Albion have a game in hand on sixth-placed Everton, who have played a game more in a congested bottom half of the league.
In contrast, Leicester have lost all nine matches and scored just twice. Not that Connolly and her teammates will be taking them lightly.
She added, “There is more pressure on Leicester, but we know it will be a difficult game. We’re ready though. The new players have already added a lot to the group and everyone wants to impress. We can’t wait, we’re looking forward to Sunday.”