Al-Ittihad central defender, Ashleigh Plumptre, has revealed that her absence from the Super Falcons squad since June 2023 is more of a personal decision.
Plumptre has not played for Nigeria since she featured in all four of the Super Falcons games during the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup which took place in Australia and New Zealand.
The 25-year-old who joined Al-Ittihad of Saudi Arabia on a free transfer in the summer following the expiration of her contract with Leicester City has now cleared the air on her absence from the Nigerian team.
“I guess it has been a break. I haven’t been able to go to the upcoming, camp, like I said, it’s more of a personal decision while I take care of my body,” she told Nigeria Football.
“But ultimately, I want to be fun with the team. It’s a privilege. And I want to be in the best physical condition to be able to go and compete in important games.
“And I feel like right now, I have complete trust and faith in the team. I will be watching the game while I am here, but I want to get to a point where I can compete maximally and provide as much as I can to the team in the best condition.”
On her future with the Super Falcons, Plumptre said she expects to still play for the team but she added that she doen’t know when but hopefully, as soon as possible.
She explained that she had to make the decision for the benefit of herself and also the team as well.
The centre-back said she is looking forward to some of the girls that have been called up and especially, the younger girls that have been invited.
“It’s like the first or second time or they haven’t had much experience with the the senior team,” Plumptre said.
“Hopefully give them a chance as well. And to be seen, at the top level, I think that’s really important. So, yeah, I’ll be supporting the girls from afar.”
Plumptre, meanwhile, is the third Nigerian female footballer to ply her trade in the Saudi top-flight after the duo of Rita Chikwelu and Tochukwu Oluehi.
She has actually hit the ground running in the Middle East which saw her score a hat-trick on her competitive debut for Al-Ittihad while she won the Player of the Month award for October.
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