“I can already see such a big difference” – Ahtinen on positive start to pre-season | OneFootball

As the Women’s first team embarked on a training camp this week as preparations for the 2024/25 Barclays Women’s Super League ramp up, we caught up with midfielder Olga Ahtinen to reflect on the pre-season programme so far.

The Finland international enters her second season with us having joined last August, 2023, from Swedish side Linkoping FC and became influential in Robert Vilahamn’s side in the opening six WSL games of the season.

Olga, who was also named vice-captain alongside Molly Bartrip at the beginning of the campaign, started in midfield alongside international team-mate Eveliina Summanen and was part of the side that was only beaten once in the first six games, eventually making 20 appearances overall in all competitions.

The 27-year-old has already made a strong start in pre-season, scoring a stunning goal in our 6-1 win over London City Lionesses at the weekend in the first friendly of our pre-season schedule.

“It has been good and nice to be back, although it was good to have some time off after quite a long season, especially for me as I came from Sweden straight to England and I was then playing for the whole season,” she told us.

“So it was important to take some time away and recharge, but I feel it’s really good to be back and to get started with the team.

“I have been comparing our first game of pre-season last year to the one we just had and I can already see such a big difference, it shows how far we have come even though it stills feels like we are at the beginning of our journey.

"It was good for everyone to get minutes and, I think, there were positives from it but of course things we need to improve on.”

The players, Robert and his coaching staff have spent the last few days away at a training camp as they gear up for our WSL opener at home to Crystal Palace on Sunday 22 September.

As part of a team building exercise earlier this week, the team took to the water to do paddle boarding and canoeing– and Olga reveals all what happened…

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“I thought it was fun, it did become a little bit more competitive in our boat but we were having a lot of fun,” she smiled.

"Some of the canoes were better than others, I was with Molly [Bartrip] and Matilda [Vinberg] and I felt we were quite good at it, although we did get hit by one staff boat at one point.

“This is a good opportunity for us to spend time away from the pitch, in a new environment and it’s always fun, brings us a little bit more energy and it’s nice for us to do it as a whole group, not only the players but also with the staff.”

We are just 32 days away until our season opener against Crystal Palace and Olga is looking forward to getting started in her second year in a Lilywhite shirt.

“I actually love pre-season, it feels like a new school year and everything starts from fresh, but I’m excited for when the new season starts. Personally, I just want to get better and continue to develop, but also try to care of my body because last season I got injured.”

Watch - Pre-season intensifies with training camp