With the Scottish Women’s Premier League given the go-ahead to resume on April 4, the first-team are back in training to prepare for the remainder of the season with the Girl’s Academy also returning to non-contact football. McDonald says it has been a ‘huge undertaking’ to ensure the safe return but praised the commitment of staff and players during a difficult period. Speaking to RangersTV this week, McDonald was delighted to have the first-team back with hopefully another 14 games ahead this campaign. She said: “The players are overjoyed and the staff are as well because it just gives you a different energy. They want to be playing football so we are really excited to be back. “It is really positive, there are still a couple of scenarios where the league might drop down and play just seven games because given the pandemic and how changeable it is that is a possibility but for us as a player and a staff team we want to play as many games as possible. “We have recruited high calibre players and it is important they get the games to be able to go and showcase their talent. “I think it almost feels like two seasons now the seven games seem like a really distant memory so having the 14 just provides you with the opportunity to showcase over that longer period of time so it is great. “A lot of people haven't been able to see their families so we know we are in a position of privilege to be back and we had to be patient and I think that that has paid off. “It has been a huge undertaking from everyone at the club, the staff within the women's and girls programme and the commitment from the players as well. “The club is well experienced and well versed in it so we need to tap into that and utilise it as much as possible.” With the younger age-groups also returning for socially-distanced sessions, McDonald feels it is a step in the right direction on the road back to full training. She continued: “For them that is a huge step forward as well because I think as much as they are back at school, their passion and what a lot of them girls want to do now is play football so it is brilliant. “Also for the staff as well, you forget it is such a huge part of people's lives and they might work full-time but their passion is coaching so we are delighted to get people back in albeit in a socially-distanced capacity but it is kicking a ball and it is one step closer to where we all want to be. “I think we need to get through this period, again it is very difficult because some of them might be involved in summer leagues. “We don't know the situation with the league or when they will be allowed to resume but we have always been really clear that we want to be able to improve the quality of the Academy and that means that we will probably go through a bit of a restructure at some point. “We will start communicating that to the parents soon. We have been doing a lot of work behind the scenes to be able to make that happen. “It is kind of a second phase for us in terms of the project, we obviously really developed the first team and now our focus is how can we allow Academy players to come through and be part of our first team and close that gap from Academy to first-team. “We are in the best place for it because we can really tap into the knowledge that is available at the training centre and experience that they have.”
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