Emma Lawton: I'll play in any position to help the team | OneFootball

Emma Lawton has been a consistent and consistently impressive presence in the Celtic squad since making the step up to full-time professional football when she moved from Partick Thistle to Paradise back in September last year.

Ahead of this weekend’s SWPL clash with Hibernian at Meadowbank Stadium, the 23-year-old has made 27 appearances for the Hoops, scoring seven goals.

And her performances also earned her a first call-up to the Scotland national team. She made her international debut in the Nations League clash with Austria last Friday, and then followed that up with his first goal for her country in the midweek match against the Netherlands at Hampden.

Now, having returned to training with her Celtic team-mates, the focus for Lawton is very much on this Sunday’s clash with Hibernian (KO: 4.10pm), although she still reflected on her first experience of international football.

“It was a really good week for me,” she admitted. “I enjoyed my time there and I learned a lot within such a short space of time, so I’m hoping to take some of that into this weekend.

“The players were all really welcoming to me and all the other new girls there, so it was a good opportunity to see how they operated and the different levels they’re at and being able to train and play with them was really nice.

“I’m just happy to play wherever I’m asked to play. I’m one of those people who, as long as I’m on the pitch, I’m not bothered.

“So in all the different positions that I’ve played, I think I can offer different things, so I’ve not got a favourite necessarily, but as long as I’m doing my bit to help the team, I’m happy.”

There are currently four teams at the top of the league table all on 51 points – Celtic, Hibernian, Glasgow City and Rangers – with the teams only separated by goal difference. So every game and every point is vital between now and the end of the season.

This Sunday’s game against Hibernian is the last fixture before the league split, and Lawton and her Celtic team-mates are determined to do everything they can to pick up all three points.

“Hibs are a really good team,” she said. “They’re well-organised and they’ve got really good individuals, so it’s our job to nullify them, but also where we can exploit their weaknesses and look at our strengths because we’ve got some great players within our squad, so the focus is on us but we know we need to be aware of them.

“I’ve played with Tegan Bowie, Eilidh Adams and Catherine McGovern with the Scotland Under-23 squad and they’re all really good players and it’s something we’ve got to be aware of, but we’ve got players who can manage that and play against it, so we’re confident in what we’ve got in our squad.”

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