Aston Villa attacker Ruesha Littlejohn has joked that partner Katie McCabe 's habit of scoring against her teams is "very annoying."
Arsenal's McCabe scored the third goal for the Gunners as they won 4-1 away at Villa Park to maintain pace with WSL leaders Chelsea at the top of the league. Villa, who had Littlejohn missing through injury, took the lead with Kirsty Hanson's stunning 20-yard strike and briefly looked like they would upset the title contenders before falling to an impressive comeback.
Republic of Ireland international Littlejohn, who joined Villa in the summer of 2021, was a guest on Talksports' Women's Football Weekly podcast this week and discussed the game, and McCabe's contribution, with host Shebahn Aherne.
"It is very annoying!" Littlejohn told Talksport. "She always scores against my teams. She was playing well and sure enough 20 minutes after half-time she scores.
"But she had a good game, she was busy and did well. And yeah, of course, she scored again. So I can't wait to go home and see her!"
Ireland national teammates McCabe and Littlejohn first disclosed publicly they were in a relationship back in 2019. But only one half of the pair were happy with the result on Sunday, as McCabe's goal helped Arsenal claim back-to-back wins in the league, while Villa dropped down to sixth in the table.
Unlike her partner, Littlejohn, who can play in midfield or as a forward, didn't make it onto the pitch as she is currently out injured instead taking the game in from the stands. The Irish international has had a stop-start season, recently returning from injury against Durham only to pull up with a calf issue before the next game.
She opened up on her recent fitness problems to the podcast host Aherne and added that she was staying positive ahead of the New Year.
"I had a day off after the Durham game," Littlejohn added. "What happened is I was training and prepping for the Manchester United game.
"It was three days before the game, we'd done a warm-up and the rondos but when we went into the main part of the session, my calf just started cramping. I tried to run through it but it just didn't let me.
"I got a scan and found I've got a wee grade one tear. But it could always be worst. The only plus side is because I'm injured I can really, really enjoy the Christmas period!"
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