'I want to play for mum' – Arsenal's Cooney-Cross

· BBC-Football

Arsenal's Kyra Cooney-Cross is preparing to play at Emirates Stadium for the first time since losing her mum Jess to cancer, and explains how she has been facing up to her bereavement "one day at a time".

But there will be one important person missing from the crowd: her mother, Jess.

The Australia midfielder will play at the stadium for the first time since losing her mum to cancer two months ago. It is something she says she has been taking "one day at a time".

> "I know mum would want me here playing and training," she told BBC Sport. "And I want to play for the fans as well, to say thank you to them.

> "But it's mixed emotions. Game days are very emotional for me now. They mean a lot more. I would say I'm excited, but it's also going to be an emotional day.

> "I want to play and I want to play for her as well and for the fans."

Cooney-Cross's mum was diagnosed with stage four cholangiocarcinoma, a rare and aggressive form of bile duct cancer, in January of this year.

She passed away seven months later, in July, at the age of just 45.

> "She was a beautiful human and I want to carry her with me on and off the pitch," said Cooney-Cross.

The Australia international credits her mother's sacrifices for helping shape her football career.

She added: "Mum was a single mum of four girls. Growing up, she was driving me four times a week to train in Melbourne, an hour and a half each way. We barely had money for fuel. I don't even know half of the sacrifices she's made.

> "I want to carry her in everything I do and how I am and how I play. Because she was honestly amazing."

Mum was truly something special

Cooney-Cross, who is the eldest of four sisters, describes being told that her mum had terminal cancer just after Christmas as the moment her world changed "forever".

The phone call from her stepdad was made even more difficult by the fact she was in England at the time, having decided not to travel home for the holidays.

Upon hearing the diagnosis, the 24-year-old took the "next flight home" and an indefinite period of compassionate leave from football to spend her mother's final months by her side.

> "That time at home was something I definitely needed. Being able to be at home and slow down, be present and being with my mum was the most important thing," she said.

> "Being able to be there with her over the last six months and then that last week, it's sad, but I think we also need to think of it as a beautiful thing as well.

> "My mum was truly something special."

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