Saints given double fitness boost for Women's return

Speaking in his team news before the game against Nottingham Forest - Saints' first after the international break - there was positive news on Aimee Palmer and Maria Edwards' recovery.

Both players are yet to feature this season due to injuries, but could be involved in the matchday squad on Sunday at St Mary's for the first time under Parker's leadership.

"Where they've been on modified training recently, this was pretty much the first week where they've been very heavily involved so the aim is that they can feature this weekend in the squad, which is fantastic because they're two very good players." Parker said.

"If we look at Maz, for example, we've been quite light in the attacking areas so to have an extra player who's coming back in those positions is always incredibly beneficial.

"Then with Aimee, she's just a player of real quality and she can add to that midfield where we're already very strong, so adding that competition is fantastic.

"It's also having the added competition back that improves the quality in training. It's different when there's someone that's after your shirt and it's allowed us to have more quality, more tempo and more intensity in training. It's more of a headache for me but that's great for the team so it's exciting for the fans, it's exciting for everybody."