Helen Ward: Wales striker says Watford Ladies being classed 'non-elite' during Covid-19 lockdown is tough to take

Helen Ward cannot train or play for Watford Ladies during coronavirus lockdown in England as club fall outside elite sport category; Wales striker is due to play a Euro Qualifier against Belarus on December 1

Helen Ward spoke to The Women's Football Show about how lockdown has affected her preparation for Wales' Euro Qualifier in December after Watford Ladies were classed as 'non-elite'

Watford Ladies captain and Wales' leading goalscorer Helen Ward admits the new coronavirus restrictions are "tough to take" as she is unable to train with her club ahead of a key international game which falls during the four-week lockdown.

England entered a national lockdown on Thursday, but the government gave elite sport the green light to continue during the initial four-week period of heightened restrictions.

The Women's Super League and Championship will resume as normal, but Watford fell outside of the government's elite classification as they currently play in the third-tier National League South.

On Tuesday, Ward tweeted "I miss being an 'elite' sportswoman", and she told Friday's edition of The Women's Football Show about how lockdown has impacted her preparation for Wales' Euro Qualifer against Belarus on December 1.

"It is tough to take, we've got another qualifier coming up on December 1 which is still in this period of lockdown," she said.

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"For me personally, and a few others in our league, we're going to have to prepare for a very important game without being able to train or play with our club.

"On the one hand, you're considered elite and can carry on internationally, but on the other hand even though we're doing very much the same things as plenty of the clubs in the Championship, we're not considered as elite domestically. It's a weird one to get your head around.

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"I'm going to have to get back on the treadmill again, training on my own. It's really hard mentally to motivate yourself. Watford have really backed us and made sure our environment is as safe as it can be.

"As players and staff, we've done everything we can to make sure we're going along with the protocols. It has been so good being back.

"We're been fortunate enough to have supporters out our games, so I suppose there's an upside to not being elite, but it's disappointing. Football for us and our supporters is such an important part of our lives, I just hope it doesn't have a detrimental effect on mental or physical health."

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