ANITA ASANTE paid a touching tribute to injured team-mate Remi Allen ahead of her last two games before retirement.
The veteran centre-back will captain Aston Villa against Arsenal and Birmingham before calling time on a career spanning nearly two decades.
Anita Asante will wear the captain’s armband for Aston Villa in their last two games of the WSL season Credit: PA
Remi Allen will miss Villa’s games against Arsenal and Birmingham due to an ACL injury Credit: Getty Carla Ward’s side will be without the services of Allen, 31, with the midfield ace sustaining an anterior cruciate ligament injury.
And the Villa player, who has scored five times in 22 appearances this term, will miss her side’s last two games of the season.
In a post shared via her Twitter account, Asante said it was “an honour” to be leading her team-mates in their last two games this term.
And she dedicated her captaincy to Allen who replied by describing the tribute as a “class act”.
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Asante, 44 appearances across all competitions for Villa netting twice after joining in the summer of 2020.
And club boss Carla Ward revealed she tried to persuade the defender to stay on for another term when she learned of her plans to retire.
Ward also hopes to keep the former Lionesses centre-back at the club in some capacity.
Ward said: “A couple of weeks ago I said: ‘look, have you fully decided, what are you doing?’ She said: ‘yeah, I can finish on a high this way’.
“She is an outstanding human being and I want to keep her here next season.
“In what capacity, I don’t know, but I’d love to keep her here because she’s an absolute joy to be around.”
Earlier this week Asante spoke to BBC Sport about her hopes of becoming a coach.
And she dreams of one day managing her former club Arsenal with whom she won the Champions League 15 years ago this month.
On Asante’s coaching ambitions, Ward added: “She has an unbelievable amount of knowledge.
Carla Ward will be hoping to surprise Arsenal after claiming a point against Manchester United Credit: Reuters “She has also got an unbelievable sense of humility and a way that draws people in from the way that she is as a human being.
“That’s really valuable as a coach because she could walk into a room, and everybody would stop and listen.
“How she can then translate that as a coach is that it’s naturally a lot easier to coach people who initially respect you.”
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
