Erin Cuthbert column: Scotland striker on Love Island & magnesium salts

Erin Cuthbert

Chelsea and Scotland striker Erin Cuthbert will be writing columns for the BBC Sport website this summer as the national team compete in their first World Cup.

Women's World Cup, Japan v Scotland
Venue: Stade de la Route de Lorient Date: Friday, 14 June Time: 14:00 BST
Coverage: Watch live on BBC One and BBC Alba, listen to BBC Radio Scotland & follow live text commentary on the BBC Sport website and app

We only arrived in France on Wednesday and I'm stressed out already. It's nothing to do with injury. Or the hotel. Or anyone in the camp. The problem is that I've not been able to decide what series to watch on Netflix while we're at the World Cup. Seriously, it's causing me no end of grief and it's my biggest stress off the pitch at the moment now my university work is over for the summer.

Thank God I've got Love Island to sort me out. It's garbage TV but it's great for switching off at a tournament like this with so much pressure and attention. I'm not mad for it, but I watched the first episode before we flew out while my room-mate Lizzie Arnot was asleep and I was hooked. When she woke up in the morning, she was asking me about it and I was banging on about Anton and whoever else.

At the Euros in 2017 we had a 'Love Island room' where we were staying with a massive projector and someone would hook their laptop up to it and the whole squad - bar a few - would sit on the sofas and watch. It was 10pm every night, no interruptions, no phones, and it was magic. I'll defo be watching again this summer.

I've not roomed with Lizzie before but I'm considering it a result. She's quite an early bird and I'm not, but she makes magnificent cakes. They're so good, they even have their own Instagram page. I should definitely get first dibs on them now. Mind you, that's me had four different room-mates on the last four trips, which is pretty unusual... I think someone is trying to tell me something.

Cuthbert & Bright's easy drills to improve your skills

My room usually ends up being pretty busy, too. The first thing in my suitcase was my Nintendo Switch - I get that wired up and get all the girls involved so we're crowded round the TV playing Mario Kart, Fifa and Crash Bandicoot. The other essential in my bag? Magnesium salts. I know it's a weird one but I like to take baths and soak myself in it because it's really good for muscle cramps. I've got 2kg of the stuff with me because you just know it's going to be roasting here in France and I'm hoping we'll be here a while...

Tell you what though, you should have seen the amount of stuff I packed. I like to take a lot of clothes because I find changing out of my kit and into my own gear helps me switch off from football a bit. It's like taking a uniform off. My bag was borderline overweight but luckily we had them taken to the airport for us, so I was able to be all like 'That? Nah, nah, that's no mine...'

'My family has watched the goal 400,000 times'

We had a few days at home after the Jamaica game, which I really enjoyed. I needed the break because it had been a mad few days after playing and scoring at Hampden. I can't believe I'm even saying that... I've tried that shot so many times in training and shanked it time after time, hitting the corner flag and all sorts. So when I saw it go in, I was so shocked that I didn't know what to do.

Someone told me over a million people have watched the goal and I think about 400,000 of those were my family alone... I've seen it a few times, even if I've been trying not to. I'll have been watching TV with my mum and dad and I'll just hear the BBC Alba commentary coming from my mum Jacqui's phone and I'm like 'Mum! Any chance you could just put that down and watch the telly?! This is my time to switch off!'

Sometimes you do forget how important all this is to them, though. My dad Steve is the most outwardly unemotional man in the world - apparently he didn't even get out of his seat when I scored - but even though he is Northern Irish, I know the big man would have been bursting inside.

Anyway, he was helping me load up my bags in the car and it felt like I was moving out again. He said 'don't leave without saying goodbye' and disappeared back into the house, which I thought was strange. Then he came out and gave me this wee picture, maybe about the size of a bank card, of me when I was a kid outside Ibrox with a Rangers 'trackie' on. He said to me, 'I know how much you say you do it for us, but you have to do it for yourself' and he had written on the back of this picture 'Do it for this wee girl who had a dream and practised and practised until it came true'. It had two Xs and two Os on it - he's never sent me an X on a text in my whole life!

I could tell he was bubbling up but we had a cuddle on the driveway and I managed to keep it together until I drove away... then I burst into tears. I was bawling all the way up the road to meet the squad. I was in a pure state but it just reminded me that the next time he'll see his wee girl is playing in a World Cup.

Erin Cuthbert

Erin Cuthbert was speaking to BBC Sport's Richard Winton