Leah Williamson has said it was a ‘massive shame’ that the Women’s Super League season had to be curtailed.

Williamson appeared on the Show Must Go On podcast with England teammate Lucy Bronze and revealed it has been difficult to watch her male counterparts return to training ahead of the Premier League restart.

The 23-year-old was voted as the Arsenal Women’s Supporters’ Club player of the season for 2019-20 and said: “We were in a completely different position to the men in terms of funding and the money available to each club, so I think a lot of the girls were concerned about the potential of next season being affected by going back, or even their own safety and their families safety around testing.

“I’d love to be back out there, I’m sure many of the girls would, but the decision was made with many more seasons ahead in consideration, and making sure we don’t jeopardise them from going back.

“But I think it’s a massive shame that we’ve not gone back and if you’ve seen the men do it, there will be a lot of questions around why we couldn’t.”

Williamson started every one of Arsenal’s 15 WSL games as defending champions last season went on to discuss the huge strides forward the women’s game has made in recent years.

“I think that’s the biggest risk of not going back, that you lose the momentum that we’ve been building,” she added.

“It’s no secret that the women’s game has been jumping and jumping each year to new heights, so I think that’s the biggest fear – that we’ll lose that when we go back and it’ll be two steps backwards.”

Williamson scored two goals for the Gunners during the past season against Bristol City in the league, before also netting against eventual league champions Chelsea in the Continental Cup final in February.