Arsenal Women head coach Jonas Eidevall confirmed that talented defender Katie Reid will remain with the senior squad after an impressive pre-season campaign.

Asked by the Gooner Fanzine about the club's plans for Reid this season, Eidevall said: "We are looking to keep her with us."

"I think she was brilliant today, I think she is such a talent. Of course she is a young player so we can’t expect her to have a high level consistently all the time, although she is playing here since the end of last season and she is doing everything right in pre-season.

"But the plan is for her to be here in the squad and to get playing time, she is good enough. Then we can evaluate again at Christmas what is the best way for her, there is no doubt she has a bright future, we just need to make sure it is with us."

With Arsenal set to play Rangers and one of Atletico Madrid and Rosenborg in the Champions League qualification stage next week, the Gooner also asked both Eidevall and Lia Walti to compare this year's pre-season to the lack of preparation in 2023 for the Champions League qualifiers.

Asked if Walti feels more prepared for this season, the midfielder said: "I think so. Last season we were together with the whole group only for a couple of days.

"Now we had a couple weeks, which is good for us- every player had at least minutes in more than two games, and I think we grew together really well in Washington, so we're ready to go."

I asked @liawaelti about the difference between pre-season this year and in 2023 ??"We grew really well in Washington, we're ready to go!" ?? pic.twitter.com/NDyxsXTSrK

— Freddie Cardy (@CardyFreddie) August 31, 2024

Eidevall, posed the same question, replied: "What you can see is that we have been able to experience a proper pre-season. It is a surreal experience when you think back to it, coming into Linkoping with artificial turf and you roll out the first pass and the ball rolls differently and you think ‘we have had two training sessions together’ and you immediately have to solve these situations that are new to us but it is Champions League and we need to start solving things off the cuff.

Me: "I asked Lia Walti about pre-season, compared to last year coming straight into the Champions League after the World Cup. How different does this year feel?"Jonas Eidevall: "What did she say?" ?Me: "She said she definitely felt more prepared!"https://t.co/xfEn8546fw

— Freddie Cardy (@CardyFreddie) August 31, 2024

"From now we have been able to experience a lot more things on the pitch and off the pitch and the group dynamic is stronger. Doesn’t mean the Champions League games are going to be easy now, this mini-tournament is one of the toughest parts of the Champions League before the final, because it is the only time you play over 90 minutes.

"The rest of the time you play your opponent twice, from the round two playoffs, the group phases home and away and the knockouts. It is always hard games in the Champions League but over 180 minutes, the right team will usually go through because it evens off. But over 90 minutes of football there is a lot more jeopardy and we need to work with uncertainty and be ready for that. I am excited about that and we need to learn things from last season and understand it is a big challenge.

"We need to up our games even more than we did today. That was a part I didn't plan for this game, because I didn't think you can do, but seeing the amount of travelling supporters that came to the game, I said to the players, two seasons ago this wasn’t possible. To play a training match in front of 5,000 people, it just shows how fast the game is growing and how Arsenal are leading the way.

"That is extra pressure too, especially for our academy players but it is good pressure and it gave us a taste of what Wednesday night will be like because I think it is going to be rocking, I think it is going to be absolutely rocking and we got a taste of that.

"We need to energise the crowd, the crowd needs to energise us and if the crowd can be our 12th player in these Champions League games, that is going to be a real advantage for us."

Listen to Eidevall speaking to Freddie Cardy to reflect on pre-season in full here.