London City Lionesses head coach Melissa Phillips insists that her side will be focussing on their own performance rather than Sheffield United’s inconsistent recent home form when they travel to The Technique Stadium on Sunday.
The Pride come up against a stuttering Sheffield United side who have won just one of their last five matches on home soil in all competitions but Phillips believes that it will again come down to who performs best on the day with her side’s focus being upon themselves.
When speaking to FA Women’s Super League Full-Time this morning about Sheffield United’s recent form, Phillips said “I think that it is testament to how tough our league is and how you have to be prepared for each matchday.
“We will always focus on ourselves and our preparation and confidence leading into the match.
“We will just make sure that we do the right things each day in training this week and prepare accordingly.
“It will be a great opportunity to measure how much growth we have had between the start of the season and now and give them a good fight.”
London City Lionesses were defeated 4-1 in the reverse fixture at Princes Park back in September and Phillips is hoping to see her side get revenge on The Blades this weekend, especially after being narrowly beaten by Liverpool in their last FA Women’s Championship fixture on Sunday.
She said “Sheffield are going to be another strong side and we need to respond to a tough result earlier in the season.
“We always look at the finer details and little margins in the game whether that be set-pieces, attacking creation or areas where we want to build on our identity in general.
“Ultimately, it is about our mindset, looking forward and preparing ourselves for the game.”
London City Lionesses collected just one point from their opening four FA Women’s Championship games this season but have since gone on to take nine points from the five league fixtures that have followed. Looking back on the second half of 2020, Phillips expressed her delight as the growth of the side.
“I have been tremendously proud of the growth of the team in the first half of the season for all facets whether it’s our style of play, building identity or belief in the things that we are doing and starting to come together as a unit” said the London City Lionesses head coach.
“I think that there have been so many positives to draw on and we just keep pushing forward.”
London City Lionesses’ final FA Women’s Championship fixture of 2020 against Sheffield United is scheduled to kick-off at 2pm on Sunday afternoon with highlights to be made available on the FA Player.