Manchester City head coach Gareth Taylor says that his side have very much been focusing on themselves ahead of this afternoon’s Barclays FA Women’s Super League fixture against Chelsea.
The Cityzens renew their rivalry with the South West Londoners just a fortnight on from their 3-0 defeat to the same opponents in the semi-finals of the Vitality Women’s FA Cup.
When speaking in his pre-match press conference, Taylor said that the focus for Manchester City has very much been on themselves and how they can defeat Chelsea in their latest match. He also said that no focus has been placed upon gaining revenge on The Blues.
“Absolutely not,” Taylor said when asked whether some focus has been placed on getting revenge on Chelsea for that recent Vitality Women’s FA Cup semi-final defeat.
“We reviewed the Leicester performance at the start of the week and identified elements of our play which we thought ‘this is how we want to do it’. We saw some really good play and regardless of who we are playing, in this game, the following Wednesday and the following Saturday, it is all about us.
“We obviously do our homework on the opposition and what kind of concepts we expect to encounter but again, it’s about us, that has been the message this week and I think that’s the way to be regardless of who we are playing.”
Taylor went on to say that the Chelsea game provides his side with an opportunity to help drag them back into the reckoning for European qualification after a tough start to the season.
He said “Winning the game drags us closer to Chelsea, I think the gap would be five points which isn’t a huge amount this early on in the season. It’ll be a big shift for us, we are coming up against one of the best sides in the division who have been doing it for a number of seasons, a very strong squad on all fronts, in all competitions.
“It’s a big challenge for us but if we stick to our principles of play, then we have a really good opportunity.”
The Barclays FA Women’s Super League fixture between Manchester City and Chelsea is scheduled to kick-off at 3pm. Tickets for the match can be purchased by clicking here.