Friday 08 November 2024 10:45
Marc Skinner is confident his sides are ready to return to winning ways after two draws in a row in the Barclays Women’s Super League.
The Reds picked up draws against Brighton & Hove Albion and Arsenal in our last two fixtures to remain unbeaten in all competitions this season, but want to add another three points this weekend.
United take on an Aston Villa side who are yet to get their first win in the league, but Skinner does not believe the table shows the results.
Skinner spoke to the press ahead of the game about Hayley Ladd, the games so far, and injury news.
WE’VE HAD HONEST AND OPEN CONVERSATIONS
“Hayley [Ladd] is a fantastic professional. She understands that she’s been limited in game time up to now. I think I felt the game needed more attacking impetus [last weekend], especially being 1-0 down in the second half towards the end. I think it was about introducing more attacking options into the field and I think Hayley gets that. She’s been doing her A Licence coaching, so she gets the coaching front as well as the playing front. It doesn’t stop her wanting to start and play, but she knows.
“We’ve had an honest and open conversations, and she knows how important she is to this team and important to this squad but also that in this moment, she has to be patient. We’re having to do different things. We’re trying to find what the future looks like as well for us. Hayley is a huge part of what we’ve been doing. From my perspective, she’s been fantastic. She continues to be that the professional that we all expect.”
VILLA’S RESULTS DON’T REFLECT THE PERFORMANCES
“I think if you look at their statistics, especially the start of the season. They could have beaten Chelsea and the other games have been really tight. They’re producing really good attacking football and conceding a couple of goals that they probably won’t be happy with. They’re a difficult team. They’ve invested well in the summer. There’s been a lot of investment gone into Villa in the summer. Roberts come in. It’s all new. The league’s new.
“I think they’re playing some really good football. I expect it to be tough. I know we can look at results. You know how they’re feeling because they haven’t got the results maybe that they deserve but that’s this league. You’ve got to find a way, even if you’re not playing well, to get the results. From our perspective, I look at their front line and their experience in midfield and I see a real difficult team and we’ve got to be at our very best, there’s no doubt. I don’t think their results right now and their points tally would suggest their performances.”
TWO DRAWS IN A ROW
“I think you can have honesty and it doesn’t have to be negative. I think from our perspective, the draw against Brighton, I felt we played pretty well and we should have probably won the game but because they only had three shots and one of them, the goal they scored is a shot that Nikita [Parris] finishes fantastically well. From our perspective, the Arsenal game was probably one that we gained the point on the balance of performance. I think our players know that in this league you drop points from draws as well. You’ve got to maintain those wins. It’s not going to be easy against Villa. Let’s be clear on that. We’ve got to earn that win but I think we have to get to those winning ways.”
TEAM NEWS
“Everyone is fit and available, barring Leah [Galton] and Anna [Sandberg] who are being assessed. They’re back on the training field, so they’ve been back in training with the group as well. So barring them and Evie [Rabjohn] on long term. Everybody else is up for selection so the squad is healthy going into this game.”
What to watch now:
Friday 08 November 2024 10:45
