London City Lionesses head coach Melissa Phillips believes that her side’s fixture against London Bees this afternoon will be ‘an important match’, following a run of three winless games in the FA Women’s Championship.
Assessing her team’s chances against a Bees side who currently sit three places below London City Lionesses in the league table, Phillips told FA Women’s Super League Full-Time “Anyone can beat anyone in the table on any given match so it’s always going to be a tough, competitive game and it’s a London derby.
“I do think there has been a lot to build upon and a lot to be proud of in the last three results despite not getting a win, we are continuing to build our identity and put processes in place that we know will make us successful for the long term.”
Reflecting on the last time London City Lionesses faced London Bees, a 2-1 win back in October, Phillips highlighted her side’s resilience and determination that she believes ultimately sealed them the win. “What I remember from that last game is how much we wanted to win it” she said.
“We had a good amount of the ball, scored an early goal and then gave up a goal that was a bit of a fluke, but immediately after that you just saw another gear from our team.
“We switched on, we were focused and committed, we were determined to get a goal back and we did just that.
“That’s the type of attitude it’s going to take to get a result against anyone in this league.”
One area that London City Lionesses have recently struggled in is in front of goal, having not found the back of the net in any of their past three fixtures. Despite this, however, Phillips is not worried, saying “We have proven we can score goals, one game or two games without a goal isn’t really changing our game plan, we are just challenging ourselves to be a little bit better each day in training and make sure we find the back of the net.
“Scoring goals is the hardest part of the game, so we stay the course, because we have grown tremendously over the last two or three months.”
The Pride will certainly be looking to continue the strong defensive performances that they have put out this season, having conceded just 11 goals in 11 games so far. This is something that Phillips is incredibly proud of.
She added “We take a lot a lot of pride in being tough, being organised, being committed and taking ownership over our roles defensively.
“We don’t turn over the ball in bad areas, we commit to getting in behind and defending as a team when we do, so we take a lot of pride in that area.”
Looking ahead to the rest of the season, Phillips believes that by focusing on the process and the details London City Lionesses will continue to improve and achieve their goals as a team.
“Our ultimate ambitions are always to be promoted and to win the league, that doesn’t change and that’s our ultimate driving factor.
“I think right now our focus is on the process of what it takes to get there, on creating a style of play, improving every single day, challenging ourselves, showing up on the day.
“Our goal is to continue to climb the table as high as we can go and separate ourselves from this middle of the pack.
“We have got to score some goals in the process but that’s something we work on day in and day out, and I think for us it’s just about being the best versions of ourselves we can be and seeing where the chips fall.”
London City Lionesses’ latest FA Women’s Championship fixture at London Bees kicks-off at 2pm with highlights to be made available on the FA Player
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