Barker hails 'huge' progress in 2024 | OneFootball

Kicking off 2024 on January 4th against Halifax Women at Kingston Park, Barker made her intentions clear by netting a brace and coming close to sealing a hat-trick.

And as the year drew to a close, Barker started in United's Women's League Cup tie at Manchester United Women, which certainly puts all of the past 12 months' growth into perspective.

"It's been an incredible year for myself," Barker admitted. "Starting the year playing teams like - and this is no disrespect - Halifax, to Manchester United is amazing and makes me proud to be part of this club on an amazing journey.

"This break gives us a chance to reflect on the season so far and 2024 as a whole.

"For myself, I've been with the club from tier four and now in the Championship it's great to look back and see where we've come from and what we've achieved."

It was somehow fitting that United's first and last away games of 2024 were both at Leigh Sports Village against Women's Super League (WSL) outfit Manchester United Women - the first ending in a 5-0 defeat in the Women's FA Cup, with the second a much closer-fought 5-3 loss.

Barker was keen to highlight the growth from January to December within the club, pointing out how different those games were, as well as what the remainder of the season may hold for the Lasses.

"Look, we're a Championship team and it's our first time at this level," United's number nine said.

"It's not even been a year since we last played Man United, but the progress we've made as a team and as a club on and off the pitch has been huge and I'm proud to be a part of this journey.

"So far this season we've managed to score three against Man United and took Everton to penalties which is a good sign of progress for the team.

"The aim is always to keep improving. We want to keep playing good football and finish as high as we can in the Championship and look to be in the race for promotion to the WSL."