The She Kicks Locker Room: Game Ready with Danique Kerkdijk (Brighton & Hove Albion)

The Locker Room’s match-day routine slot, with Brighton’s Dutch international defender, one half of the club’s Netherlands pairing alongside Inessa Kaagman. Danique Kerkdijk is refreshingly resistant to the premise: asked repeatedly about rituals and preparation, she keeps answering that she does not really have a routine, beyond pasta the night before, enough water, and always the left boot on before the right. She does not need motivating because playing is what she most likes doing, and says the nerves that plagued her when she was younger have simply gone, which helps her perform. On recovery she watches the game back, takes one thing into the next and tries to leave the performance behind either way, then FaceTimes her parents, eats well and, when sleep will not come, watches Netflix.