- Laura Blindkilde Brown made her senior England debut against Switzerland on Tuesday
- The midfielder joined Manchester City from Aston Villa back in January
- Gareth Taylor has outlined the progress she's made and plans for the future
Manchester City boss Gareth Taylor has praised midfielder Laura Blindkilde Brown for her progress since joining the club earlier this year after she made her senior England debut on Tuesday night.
The 21-year-old began her career at Birmingham City but made her first team breakthrough at Aston Villa under their former manager Carla Ward. In January this year, she completed a deadline day move to Manchester City as they sought midfield depth following Jill Roord's anterior cruciate ligament injury.
In the second half of last season, she made a handful of league appearances for City and scored once. So far in 2024/25, she has featured eight times across all competitions and netted another goal.
England manager Sarina Wiegman selected a youthful squad for their final international break of the year due to mounting injuries among senior players. Blindkilde Brown was among those to receive her first call up and concluded the camp with a full debut in the 1-0 win over Switzerland this week.
Taylor reflected on Blindkilde Brown's performance for England when he addressed the media ahead of City's Women's Super League clash against Leicester City on Sunday.
"It's fantastic for her," the manager said. "She's really good to work with.
"We've been really pleased with her progress since she came to the club. She's completely aware she's playing alongside and is also a very good player.
"The competition levels are really high. It's really nice to see her go out [and play for England] particularly with the impact she made in certain moments during that game. She had opportunities [to score], created things and took care of the ball really well, which we really pride ourselves on.
"To see her play at that level was great for her, great for her family and also great for us."
While Blindkilde Brown isn't featuring as regularly as she did under Ward at Villa, Taylor noted the competition for places in the squad but also emphasised that the midfielder is already challenging for a starting spot. He credited her work ethic and desire to learn as a key factor behind her progress at the Joie Stadium.
"There's been gradual progress in the sense of how difficult it is to come in during a season," Taylor continued. "I think that's the first thing for any player, not just Laura.
"She adapted really well and she's really coachable, which is great. She's really open to learning and improving, and of course she's completely aware of the size of the task for her coming from [Aston] Villa to City.
"She's done really well, to the point of now being in a position to really challenge to be a starting player. I still see huge gains can be made in her game with the way she's going and the way she's open to learning.
"We're expecting to see a player who will really push on and get the most out of their career."
