Manchester United star Ella Toone heaped praise on club and England teammate Alessia Russo after the two combined to maintain their WSL title charge.
The close friends have shone in recent weeks with United looking like a team seriously capable of challenging perennial contenders Chelsea and Arsenal. Toone, who scored for England in the dramatic win over Germany in the final of the European Championship in the summer, has been crucial to their recent run and put on a creative masterclass at the weekend as United thrashed Aston Villa 5-0 at Old Trafford.
Her good friend Russo has been in fine form herself, scoring the third against Villa after getting on the end of a sweeping cross from Toone in an impressive display. The forward also scored a dramatic winner in a 3-2 success over Arsenal at the Emirates in their previous WSL game to catapult the Red Devils into the title race.
The two seem, along with wide players Nikita Parris and Leah Galton had far too much for Villa in front of a record crowd for a United women's game, as the hosts stayed in touch with league leaders Chelsea. And Toone was glowing in her assessment of Russo's recent performances, believing the United No.23's form is having a positive impact on her own game.
"She makes me look good a lot of the time," Toone told Manchester United's official club website. "I know I can fizz it into her and she'll get hold of it.
"I think we've got that relationship on and off the pitch. It helps when you build those relationships off the pitch, it always helps going onto it.
"Alessia is a great player, I know exactly what her strengths are so I work really well with her. We just link up together really well."
Despite both Toone and Russo playing at the top of their games right now, the Wigan native believes they can still improve. United face local rivals Manchester City at the Etihad on Saturday in a crunch clash that offers another chance to make a statement to the rest of the league.
"I think our standards are that high that we're probably not 100 percent happy with the Villa performance," Toone added.
"We want more from ourselves and so much more, but we were really happy with the three points and five goals (against Villa).
"We want to put on those performances to get fans back in stadiums and watching us and supporting us."
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