Katie McCabe insists her injury-stricken side have the ‘character’ to beat Wolfsburg

Perhaps no one sums up Arsenal’s fighting spirit better than Katie McCabe.

With the Gunners trailing 2-0 in the 24th minute of the first leg of their Champions League semi-final against Wolfsburg, the chances of a comeback were slim.

Four days after losing Leah Williamson to an anterior cruciate ligament injury, Arsenal’s squad was as lean as it had been all season. Not Kim Little, not Beth Mead, not Vivianne Miedema, not Caitlin Foord.

There was no way back, was there? Wrong. With McCabe wearing the captain’s armband in the absence of Little and Williamson, Arsenal fought their way back with sheer grit and determination.

Rafaelle’s header and Stina Blackstenius’ tap put Arsenal level, but it was McCabe who was everywhere, flying in tackles, blocking and running herself to the ground for her team.

On Monday, McCabe will lead her team in front of 60,000 fans at the Emirates for the second leg, hoping to make it to a first final since 2007.

“When you wear an Arsenal shirt, you have to perform and go the extra mile,” McCabe told Mail Sport.

“Unfortunately our captain and vice-captain have sustained long-term injuries, I prefer them to be on the pitch and wear the armband, but for now it’s a privilege to lead a club like Arsenal, especially in the Premier League. semi finals.” final of a Champions League.

“I think the character we have in this team and the mentality to go and come back, we’ve seen it a few times this season. We know we have quality in our team and we know we are hard to beat, but it was all about keeping calm at that time in Germany.

“It was always going to be difficult, Wolfsburg are a fantastic football team and they are going to test us very hard again.

“We have fantastic leaders everywhere on the pitch, we have players who captain their national teams in Walli (Lia Walti) and Rafa (Rafaelle), we have leaders everywhere. You always feel that pressure to perform when you wear an Arsenal shirt. I’m going to give everything I can in the role and hopefully we can get some good results.’

That Arsenal are still in this Champions League fixture despite their crippling injury crisis is somewhat remarkable, but there is no doubt that their title challenge has been significantly impacted by their number of absences.

“Unfortunately for us, there have been three ACLs this season,” said McCabe. “We’ve also had other players with longer muscle injuries, whether at the start of the season or towards the end. It’s always hard no matter who the players are.

“It’s hard going into the business end of the season without some of the players on the team giving what they give on and off the pitch. But in saying that, we can’t dwell on that too much. We still have competitions ahead of us, we still have trophies to compete for. We have a lot of giant games.’

Williamson became the third Arsenal player to suffer an ACL injury when she was forced off in the 1-0 loss to Manchester United after Beth Mead and Vivianne Miedema were sidelined with the same problem late last year. It is becoming an all too familiar story in women’s football, with 25 per cent of last year’s Ballon d’Or nominees sidelined by the injury.

‘I’m not a medical specialist, so I don’t know what’s going on. I think there needs to be a lot more research into it,” says McCabe.

“Now that I’ve seen teammates go through those ACL injuries and then Beth, Viv and Leah this season, it’s heartbreaking for the girls because you know how much they want to be on the field with us and compete for these trophies.

“That’s from a club point of view, but also internationally, with Leah captaining England and with Viv and Beth key members of the Netherlands and England respectively, it’s heartbreaking to see them go through that.

“They are three incredible girls with fantastic mindsets and I know they will drive each other through their rehabilitation journey. They also have a whole team at Arsenal supporting them.’

There was a fear that McCabe would be added to that long list of injuries as she stumbled out of the second leg of their quarter-final with Bayern Munich last month.

The 27-year-old was seen in a protective boot and on crutches after the match, but remarkably returned four days later to score the winning goal in the 2-1 win over Manchester City.

“I was in the doctor’s room of the Emirates and Jonas [Eidevall] came right in after meeting the girls. He asked how it was and I just said “I’m fit for Sunday”.

‘Did I think it was broken? Yes. Just because of the pain I can take tackles and blows and stuff, but I hadn’t encountered the pain for a long time.

That was my only concern. I was convinced I was fit, that’s why I told him, luckily all the scans were clear and we were able to prioritize to get me back on the field.’

McCabe’s four-day turnaround was aided by WHOOP, a wearable digital lifestyle coach and tracker, which helps support and improve fitness, sleep and recovery.

In the days following the match, McCabe prioritized rest, recovery and sleep to ensure she was in the ‘green zone’ in time for the title challenge to Manchester City.

“When we pulled the data, it was really interesting to see how the recovery built up,” McCabe said. “I prioritized sleep, the kind of injury I had, I had to do a lot of hot and cold water compression, elevation. There was a lot involved that I was very strict about.

“When we pulled up the chart you could see how I had built up to the good recovery zone. I think without that data I would have nothing to go off. It’s a big part of my performance.”

Tonight the women’s team plays for the first time to a sold-out Emirates and McCabe believes the home support will play an important role in getting them across the line.

“We’ve felt the support all season in previous games, even the first against Spurs – it was an incredible atmosphere that day. Chelsea also at home, we have also played countless Champions League games there.

“For us, the Emirates is starting to feel like home. It’s a different kind of feeling when you get off the Emirates, especially when you get into a Champions League semi-final and know you’ll have 60,000 fans behind you urging you on.

You can’t beat that feeling. The fans know how important they are to us and how they have won us over in games before. We will need them, we will have to make them cheer loudly and proudly and hopefully we can put on a performance that will make them happy.’

Katie McCabe is a WHOOP Ambassador, for more info visit https://www.whoop.com/