London City Lionesses head coach Melissa Phillips has admitted that her side are looking forward to facing a ‘world class opponent’ this week in the form of Chelsea.
The two sides meet at Princes Park on Wednesday evening in the FA Women’s Continental League Cup group stage. Chelsea have a perfect record in this season’s competition while London City Lionesses have been far from disgraced in their first two group fixtures against London giants Tottenham Hotspur and Arsenal.
Despite already being eliminated from the competition, The Pride are still excited about testing themselves against top class opposition once again according to head coach Phillips.
“We are super grateful for our Conti Cup group” said the London City Lionesses boss when speaking to FA Women’s Super League Full-Time. “The reality of it is that we have been able to test ourselves against three of the top teams in Europe.
“Chelsea are a world class opponent so I am sure that the game is going to provide us with some really good learning opportunities.”
Despite losing both games against Spurs and Arsenal by 4-0 scorelines, just two of the eight goals which have been conceded by The Pride have come in the second half and head coach Phillips is pleased with the way in which her side have maintained focus after tough first halves.
She added “The second half adjustments that the players have been able to make have been fantastic.
“We are playing extreme quality from kick-off but being able to make adjustments and continue to challenge these teams in the second half and to be difficult to break down, we take a lot of pride in.”
Like Phillips, Chelsea manager Emma Hayes also started her coaching career in the United States before going on to become one of the very best bosses in the English game. The London City Lionesses head coach went on to admit that she is hoping to learn plenty from Hayes on Wednesday evening.
“I would love to chat to Emma (Hayes) and Denise (Reddy) after the game” said Phillips. “I think that they are fantastic pioneers of the women’s game and the growth of it.
“I know that Emma posted a video not so long ago about ‘Made in America’. In the States, you have to be incredibly dynamic as a coach to be involved in all facets of the game.
“It’s just a different phase of it here and I am learning a lot and enjoying it but I would love to pick their brains after the game.”
London City Lionesses’ FA Women’s Continental League Cup fixture against Chelsea kicks-off at 7.30pm on Wednesday evening with the match available to stream live on Chelsea’s official Facebook page and YouTube channel along with the club’s 5th Stand app.