London City Lionesses caretaker head coach Melissa Phillips believes that a collective effort from her squad is the key to turning their early season form around, beginning with the fixture against London Bees this weekend.
Phillips was placed in caretaker charge of The Pride yesterday after head coach Lisa Fallon opted to stand down from her position due to family reasons.
With London City Lionesses having scored just two goals in five games and yet to win in the FA Women’s Championship this season, Phillips’ first job will be to build momentum and bring winning football to Princes Park. When speaking to FA Women’s Super League Full-Time, she admitted that a collective effort from the squad will help bring those positive results.
“We have talked a lot about the details, both about our preparation and our execution in the match, and getting the details right” said Phillips. “It may be goals by committee for us or goals by individual players but ultimately, we know exactly what we need to do moving forward to score goals.
“We are very, very hungry and that is what it is all about, everyone putting in full effort and being hungry to get that first goal.”
Despite a petition having gathered pace for the return of fans to stadia this week, London City Lionesses will contest their London derby behind-closed-doors. Phillips believes that there will still be plenty of local pride shown on the pitch.
She added “There’s a sense of pride that both teams have. Of course we want to have fans at the match from an atmosphere point of view and a support point of view but I feel that the games that we have played previously have been very competitive.
“The league still means a lot to the players.”
Sunday’s match sees two clubs in similar form go head-to-head in Dartford in what feels like a bit of a season-defining game even at this early stage. Phillips and her squad are approaching the clash in the same manner as they would for any other game.
“Three points are very crucial for us just like any game” said the Lionesses caretaker. “We’ve been unfortunate not to be on the better end of results but we have learnt a lot about ourselves.
“We have taken the lessons that we have learnt and will take them into Sunday’s match against Bees.
“Ultimately, the focus will always be on ourselves, our effort, our attitude and our preparations for the game.
“It will be an important match for us.”
London City Lionesses’ FA Women’s Championship fixture against London Bees kicks-off at 2pm on Sunday afternoon with highlights available on the FA Player.
You may also like
-
Chelsea produce dominant performance in victory over Aston Villa
-
Everton keeper Ramsey reveals fresh injury blow
-
‘We have to pick ourselves up and go again’ – Chelsea boss Hayes previews Aston Villa fixture
-
Arsenal smash it again with more than 40,000 tickets sold for Leicester City fixture
-
Birmingham City appoint Merricks as new head coach