PREVIEW: Durham v Sheffield United

Durham will be hoping to keep their fading promotion hopes alive when they welcome Sheffield United to Maiden Castle at lunchtime.

The Wildcats were defeated 2-0 by league leaders Leicester City last time out and they now find themselves three points adrift of The Foxes having played a game more.

Durham continue to be without the services of forward Iris Achterhof. The player has returned to light training following her Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) injury but is unlikely to feature for Lee Sanders’ side again until next season. Manager Sanders could hand a debut to full-back Ali Johnson against her former club after the player joined The Wildcats from Blackburn Rovers yesterday.

Sheffield United travel to the North East both in good shape and in good form. The Blades are currently on a winning run of four games dating back to mid-January. Head coach Neil Redfearn is believed to have a fully fit squad available to him other than long term absentees Alethea Paul and Ellie Wilson.

It was Durham who won the reverse fixture back in November 1-0 thanks to a second half goal from Nicki Gears. The Wildcats have also defeated Sheffield United in the FA Women’s Continental League Cup this season, meaning that they are aiming to complete a treble over The Blades.

The FA Women’s Championship fixture between Durham and Sheffield United is scheduled to kick-off at midday and will be available for fans to stream live on the FA Player.

Daniel Pentland

I am the editor and owner of FAWSL Full-Time magazine. I have been reporting on men’s and women’s football at various levels since summer 2015. Some of the events which I have reported from include the 2017 UEFA Women’s European Championship, 2018 FIFA Under-20 Women’s World Cup, FIFA Women’s World Cup France 2019, SSE Women’s FA Cup final, Emirates FA Cup final, UEFA Europa League, English Football League and various international matches.

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