Long-term injury has not stopped Spartans upcoming star Caley Gibb from smashing in the goals

After returning from injury in late February, winger Caley Gibb has made a flying return to the field as she continues to bang in the goals.

The 19-year-old had been out since the end of last season making her return as a substitute in the Edinburgh side’s 1-0 win against Dundee United. Since then, Gibb on fire for her club, she scored in only her second appearance back against Glasgow Women and has now netted three times in her last seven games. This means she has attributed to 62.5% of Spartans goals since her return. After being out for so long, the winger is happy to have that goalscoring feeling back.

“I came on and scored [against Glasgow Women] which was good,” she told the Edinburgh Evening News “It was another one where we were drawing and we needed to get ahead. Again, it was another important goal but as I say, every goal matters and I just try and help the team.

“The feeling is quite indescribable [when you score]. Being out was really tough mentally and physically. Now being back, I am appreciating football a lot more and just want to push on week by week, working hard and keep improving.”

Gibb has scored 3 goals in her last seven games.Credit: Spartans Women Facebook

Gibb’s return has also seen Spartan’s form improve. The Edinburgh side has won four games since the 19-year-old’s return and they are currently on a three-game unbeaten run. The winger even scored last game as she netted the equaliser against a strong Motherwell side in an entertaining 2-2 draw.

“Every goal is important,” she explained. “One that brings your team back into the game is really good. I’m glad to be back amongst the goals and back on the scoresheet and helping the team after a long time out.

“I had to make sure I was ready to come back. There was a lot of hard work that went in from myself and the staff and we managed to get myself back ready to match fitness. From then on, I think I have started to help the team.”

The club is bouncing at the moment especially after the men’s team secured the Lowland League title on the weekend and qualified for the promotion playoff, much to the delight of the women’s side. As the season nears its conclusion, there are only seven games left as

Spartans will aim to secure seventh place and end the season on a high.

“We are delighted for the men, they really deserved it,” Gibb added. “They have worked hard over the year and we are all really proud to be part of this club. We have been performing a lot better, at the start of the season I felt we were very inconsistent. We knew that we needed to start improving and over the last sort of five or six weeks, we have started to do that. We have shown a lot more desire and fight, we have been hungry for more and we are really pushing on.”

Unlike the rest of the SWPL1, Spartans do not have a midweek game this week and instead host Hamilton at Ainslie Park on Sunday. Kick-off is at 13:00.