Amid an ongoing injury crisis, where Oxford United are currently without 13 first team players, club manager Karl Robinson has invited Beth Lumsden, from the women's team to train with the men's side.
According to The Daily Mirror, the midfielder has been taking part in sessions for the past few weeks, and has since received great praise from Robinson, who formerly managed MK Dons.
Lumsden has "fitted in really well" according to the gaffer, who has had to endure a turbulent spell with the U's of late.
Alongside conventional injuries, part of the reason why the League One side has so many players is due to seven players recently testing positive for COVID-19.
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However, such unfortunate circumstances have offered Lumdsen, who played for Oxford's women team, a unique opportunity to part-take in the male squad's training session.
"It's been such a good experience. I've done it for about three or four weeks now, once a week, there's a session in the morning, followed by a gym session and an evening training session with the women as well," Lumsden told The Mirror.
"We were talking and Karl was there and he was really encouraging, he's been brilliant. The men are a lot quicker, it's not so much physically but it pushes you mentally to make decisions quicker and then I take that into games.
"I've heard stories of women playing with the under-18s but I've never been offered this chance before. It's been brilliant for me personally because we're having a good season, chasing promotion and it can only help me improve."
Away from football, Lumsden works in an estate agent business, one that is run by former Arsenal Ladies Vic Akers.
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She'll now be hoping to put what she has learned over the past few weeks into practice for Oxford United WFC.
The men's side meanwhile, currently sit 7th in League One, and will face a big test tomorrow when they host leaders Rotherham United.
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