Palmer back and fighting fit.

Palmer returned to the West Country this summer and started the Robins’ first four Barclays FAWSL fixtures until she sustained a knee injury against Birmingham City in October.

The midfielder returned to action before the Christmas break in the Robins’ defeat against Manchester United.

“I played 45 minutes against United, which was my target for the injury. I’m feeling good and haven’t had any problems with the knee, so I’m looking forward to kicking back on.

“If anything, I feel as though I have come back from the injury sharper. You’ve got to do a lot of technical work and a lot of work in the gym, I think I’m a better player for it and hopefully I can translate that onto the pitch.

“I haven’t had an injury that’s kept me out for more than 2-3 weeks before, so it’s something I wasn’t used to and not prepared for, but to be honest, I’m glad it happened when it did.

“It’s something I have learnt a lot from physically and mentally. I’ve had great people around me and I don’t think I would have gotten through it if it wasn’t for them. The girls in the gym, Abi and Ebony all around me to help me out when it got tough.”

City Women will be looking to kickstart 2021 with a victory against the Seagulls this weekend and Palmer has urged her teammates to embrace the challenge and play with confidence heading into the second half of the season.

“Going into the Christmas break we had results that we were happy with, so it was a great time to get away and get our heads sorted to come back feeling refreshed.

“We’re not happy with where we sit in the table, we’re not happy with the previous performances, but we can’t think about that now. We’ve got to look forward to the year ahead, it’s a new year.

“We’ve got it in us. We know we can play, and we’ve got to find the confidence and trust each other the points will come, we have just got to believe in ourselves.

“At the end of the day, whoever works the hardest wins. Looking at our squad, whoever is starting, on the bench or injured, we’ve all got massive personalities and we all back and believe in each other. We’ve got to show that on the pitch now.”