Hearts' new signings are loving the Shropshire training camp

With Hearts’ Shropshire training camp now well underway, the new faces in the camp are loving their time down south.

After arriving at Lilleshall National Sports Centre earlier this week it’s safe to say the camp are making the most of their time in England. On the back of a brilliant campaign last season, the squad remains high in spirits as new players continue to be brought into the set-up. Three players that recently joined the club are Carly Girasoli, Katie Lockwood and Kathleen McGovern who are all taking advantage of their time down south.

“Yeah, it’s been very good, it’s good to have the team together,” Girasoli told the Edinburgh Evening News. “The training pitch is amazing. I’ve really enjoyed it. The weather’s ok, it’s been a bit raining but I am just taking it all in.”

All three of the players signed within the same time frame, joining the club at the start of the month. As a result, many of them have already had the opportunity to take part in pre-season friendlies before the camp had begun including the Jam Tarts’ 5-0 win over Motherwell last weekend. McGovern was one of the players on target in the game as the striker netted twice against the SWPL1 side to earn Eva Olid’s side the win.

“I’ve been loving it,” McGovern added. “Preseason has been good; the girls have been very welcoming and nice. The standards have been very high so far. I’ve started well but it’s a team sport. If it wasn’t for the players around me, I wouldn’t be scoring the goals. That’s been good; I’m happy when I am scoring goals.”

Lockwood is another new signing with an eye for a goal. The 25-year-old netted seven times last season for Edinburgh rivals Hibs including one against Hearts in the derby. Now, the English striker will be hoping to find her bag another goal this weekend as they come up against Blackburn Rovers.

“It’s fun to have the little games and competitions [around the camp] that we do,” Lockwood stated. “It’s good to have a laugh on the field as well as being serious and doing tactics as well. [Blackburn] is a good test for us, it gives us an idea of where we are at and where we need to improve on.”

Girasoli is one of the few players at the camp that will have experience against English opposition after recently spending time south of the border with the London City Lionesses. With the team also set to play Sheffield United again in a few weeks, the defender is aiming to use her experience to help the team.

Hearts' training camp will last five days. Credit: Hearts Women

“I’ve played against a few of the teams, so I am just trying to bring my experience into that,” Girasoli explained. “We are just trying to set out what we are going to do this season and take that on in pre-season. We are just focusing on being clinical and not conceding. We’ve had a good few games doing that.”