Surprise Barclays FA Women’s Super League leaders Brighton & Hove Albion are expecting a real test against Aston Villa this weekend according to manager Hope Powell.
The Seagulls have carried their excellent form from the end of last season into the new campaign with Powell’s side having won both of their first two matches. This weekend sees Aston Villa provide the opposition at The People’s Pension Stadium in Crawley. Villa have enjoyed a solid start themselves with one win and one draw from their two matches.
Speaking in the pre-match press conference in which FAWSL Full-Time were present, Brighton & Hove Albion boss Powell said that her side are expecting nothing other than a really tough test against Villa.
“They have made some fantastic signings, some of the players that we were retracted to in the summer as well,” Powell said.
“Hannah Hampton’s distribution has got to be the best in the league and I think that is a real weapon for them going forward, she’s a very talented young goalkeeper. Remi Allen is a little tyrant, she did so well at Reading, Leicester and she is now a real driving force for Villa….Lehmann, I could go on. They’ve made some really good signings and have real depth to their team.
“They have got off to a really good start, they are high on confidence and we know that it is going to be a very, very tough fixture but that’s why we train, that’s why we prepare, that’s what it is all about. As usual, we will give it a real good go.”
With six points out of six on the board so far, Powell admitted that Brighton & Hove Albion are delighted with their start and she even had time to joke about European qualification.
She chuckled “Lets curtail the league now and we would be in the Champions League, that’d be great….that’s not going to happen.
“We are really pleased. The teams that are around us, we would hope to compete with and we have done that in the last two games and have done that very well, very convincingly, now we have just got to keep that momentum going into Sunday’s game.”
Brighton & Hove Albion’s Barclays FA Women’s Super League fixture against Aston Villa at The People’s Pension Stadium kicks-off at 2pm on Sunday afternoon.
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