Perthshire footballer Lana Clelland scores four against Fiorentina in the Italian Serie A

Methven footballer Lana Clelland scored a fabulous FOUR in the Italian Serie A on Sunday.

And the determined Perth Grammar School alumnus thinks there’s still room for improvement.

Clinical Clelland (28) stole the show as he inspired Sassuolo to a 6-1 league victory at his former club Fiorentina.

She had equalized the score just before the break and then scored in the 53rd, 58th and then in the 78th minute.

“This game was different to the start of the season because I was returning to a place that I have called home for many years,” Clelland told the Perthshire Advertiser.

“And it’s a place where I see myself living after football. I wanted to respect the fans and the people I love by not celebrating if I scored like I did on their pitch.

“Personally, I’ve been on good form since we got back from Christmas. I’m happy to get back on the scoresheet and see that the hard work is paying off.

“My current form is still not perfect, but I feel like I’m back to my old self after a slow return from injury for various reasons.

“I enjoy my football and I work with great athletes and future prospects in this game.

“I love trying to help them with some of my experience and watching this group get stronger every week.”

Scotland international Clelland, once again one of the top scorers in the Italian top flight, helped Sassuolo reach third in the table after their opening 12 games. They sit behind Juventus and Roma.

Clelland, who was also on the Super Cup semi-final roster against Juventus earlier in the month, believes the team are well placed to continue in the weeks and months to come.

“We had ups and downs,” she shared earlier this week. “We started almost perfectly, so we had a bit of a hard time accepting a few bad results in a row.

“The break was important for us to pull ourselves together. The team got together before the break and we talked about the things we needed to improve to get our performance back to where we thought it should have been. Everyone came back from vacation with new energy.

“We want to take one game at a time and see where it takes us, but now we are up there for that second place in the Champions League. I think it would be special for a club like this.

Clelland has been in Italy for several years now having first moved to south side Bari in 2014. It was then on to UPC Tavagnacco before joining Fiorentina and now Sassuolo.

A role model for local young footballers in Perthshire and beyond, she scored a famous crier for Scotland against Japan at the World Cup in 2019.