Manchester City head coach Gareth Taylor believes that his side are thriving under their hectic run of fixtures.
City face their fourth game in just 11 days tomorrow afternoon when they take on Swedish club Goteborg in the second leg of their UEFA Women’s Champions League round of 32 tie at The Academy Stadium.
When speaking to FA Women’s Super League Full-Time in Manchester City’s pre-match press conference, Taylor said that he believes that his team are thriving in their current hectic run of fixtures.
“This team seem to be better with a higher volume of games” said the City head coach. “The busier that we are and the more games that we are playing tells us that we are being successful and that we are going further in competitions.
“That is what we are obviously trying to achieve.”
Manchester City are aiming for a sixth consecutive home victory when they face Goteborg. While the club have stuttered at times in the early days of new head coach Taylor’s reign, their good form at The Academy Stadium is one thing that has remained constant. Despite their Etihad Campus base becoming a fortress, Taylor went on to highlight that City have also performed well on the road this season.
He said “It is great to be at home (facing Goteborg) and we need to continue to build on the familiarity of our surroundings.
“I think that we have dealt with some really tough away games so far this season as well.
“It is great to be home and we need to use that to our advantage but this is what the Champions League is about, playing these games home and away in different environments, different time zones, different weather.
“This is one that we are looking forward to tomorrow.”
Manchester City will go into the tie against Goteborg as hot favourites to reach the round of 16, especially with the visitors not having played regular games in recent weeks, however, head coach Taylor is taking nothing for granted.
“We need to respect them” said Taylor. “They are very fit and very energetic.
“They were used to playing on that surface (in the first leg) which was a little different for us but the girls dealt with it brilliantly and controlled large parts of the game.
“We are looking to earn the right early on in the game tomorrow in order to dominate and dictate the tempo that we want in the game.”
Manchester City’s UEFA Women’s Champions League round of 32 second leg tie against Goteborg is scheduled to kick-off at 3pm tomorrow afternoon and will be available for fans to stream live on City+.