Arsenal midfielder Lia Walti has admitted last season was "really difficult" for the Gunners but says their injury crisis has helped bring the team closer together.
Arsenal finished the season in third place, meaning they will advance to next season's Champions League qualifiers. Jonas Eidevall's side also lifted the Continental Tyres League Cup, beating Chelsea in the final at Selhurst Park.
Both feats are impressive when you consider the Gunners spent much of the campaign without their two talismans in attack. Both Beth Mead and Vivianne Miedema ruptured their anterior cruciate ligaments [ACL] before Christmas, while defenders Leah Williamson and Laura Wienroither also sustained ACL injuries later in the season.
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A number of other key players spent considerable spells on the sidelines last term, with Walti herself having missed multiple games with an ankle problem. However, the Switzerland international believes the way her teammates responded to adversity has helped to strengthen the bond within the squad.
"It has been a really difficult season for us with injuries but I think it brought us together even closer," Walti told Sky Sports' 'Inside the WSL' show.
"I think the togetherness at the minute is impressive. We have such good people here and I think the players that are injured are supporting the team in the best possible way from the outside. They travel with us to away games to give us what we need and the girls on the pitch are all giving their everything. It’s been a real pleasure to play with that group of girls this year."
She added: "That’s the interesting thing in football sometimes. When things don’t go your way, you stick together even more as a team and then you reach a level you didn’t know you could reach.
"With the squad we have right now we won the Conti Cup, we got to the Champions League semi-finals and had a really tight game with Wolfsburg. Other players stepped up in these roles which shows what quality we actually do have in the team."
Arsenal also set a host of attendance records last term, with May's Champions League semi-final clash with Wolfsburg attracting the largest crowd ever seen at a women's club match in the UK. And Walti, who penned a new deal at Meadow Park last month, admits its a dream come true to be witnessing the growth of the women's game.
"It was an absolutely great experience, the semi-final at the Emirates. That’s what we all dreamt about when we were kids, to play in front of thousands of people in big stadiums.
"To have that in our home stadium was incredible. It shows how far we’ve come in England, with Chelsea and Arsenal reaching the semi-finals and getting such big crowds. I just think it’s incredible to be here and keep pushing the game on and off the pitch."
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