Aluko returns to Addicks

Chelsea and England striker Eniola Aluko is aiming to kick-start her disrupted club season with a goalscoring return to her former team Charlton Athletic on Sunday.

Since leaving the Addicks to join Chelsea last summer, Aluko has had a number of interruptions to her new side’s FA Tesco Women’s Premier League campaign.

Along with her England colleagues she was forced to make a late start due to playing in September’s World Cup finals, since when the 21 year-old striker has missed a number of matches through injury and suspension.

Studying for a law degree has also affected her football, most recently when she had to withdraw from the squad for England’s Euro 2009 qualifier against Northern Ireland.

Sunday’s game will in fact be Aluko’s first Chelsea outing for eight weeks – and she can’t wait to get back into action.

“It’s been a frustrating season in many ways,” she says. “It was difficult to start with, not just for me but the other England girls as well, to re-focus on domestic football after the World Cup.

“Then I got injured playing for England against Spain in November, and in January I got suspended after being sent off against Middlesbrough in the FA Cup.

“Added to all that I’ve been studying for my finals at University, and when I got so busy with my dissertation I had to pull out of the England squad earlier this month.

“I have been anxious about missing so many games, but hopefully now I’ll get a clear run to the end of the season and I can help Chelsea to string together some good results and help England get closer to qualification for Euro 2009.”

Aluko is back in the national squad for next week’s Euro qualifier against the Czech Republic at Doncaster, meanwhile she is determined to make an impact on her return to match action at Charlton.

“I’m really happy to be getting back to playing,” she says, “but it will be strange going back to Charlton – the club is not the same one that I played for after they had to re-form last summer, but although I still feel very sad about what happened I wish them all the very best for the future.

“I’m sure they’ll bounce back after this very difficult season for them, but on Sunday there’ll be no emotion – I’ll be going all out to take three points off them.

“Our own season at Chelsea hasn’t gone as well as we’d have liked, but we’ve got seven games left and we can still finish in the top four or five if we get the results we want – starting at Charlton!