Everton boss Jean-Luc Vasseur says that he is looking forward to what will be ‘a celebration of women’s football’ when his side travel to The John Smith’s Stadium to face Huddersfield Town on Sunday.
The third tier Terriers have opted to switch their Vitality Women’s FA Cup fourth round tie against top flight club Everton to men’s arena, The John Smith’s Stadium, in a bid to attract a healthy crowd and grow their women’s team.
When speaking in his pre-match press conference, Everton boss Vasseur recognised the importance of the occasion, labelling it ‘a celebration of women’s football’.
“It is fantastic to be welcomed to this stadium because it is a celebration of women’s football so it is nice,” Vasseur said. “I think there will be a lot of fans there to watch the game so it is good.
“For the players of Huddersfield, it is maybe a dream to be playing in the men’s stadium. I think this will be a big occasion for them but I need to win.”
Everton are currently low on confidence and suffered a 3-0 loss at West Ham United in their last outing a week ago. While Vasseur knows that confidence levels must be improved, he does feel that the results haven’t completely matched the performances, particularly last weekend.
He said “During part of the game, we played well and deserved to score, we conceded the goals because of poor concentration, a lack of focus. We need to work on that, we are very, very disappointed because some of the results don’t necessarily mirror the performances. We maybe deserved to score (at West Ham United).
“Yes, we are disappointed and frustrated but we need to reset and restart because we need to gain momentum and be determined, resilient and very focused because sometimes you can make mistakes.”
Focusing back on this weekend’s tie at Huddersfield Town, Vasseur said that Everton will prepare for the game like any other and they are hungry for the win.
“It is always the same, I respect the opponent and I always want to win,” Vasseur said. “We are going to prepare like we did for the last game and give the players more information to take onboard regarding the weakness of this team to make the difference and win the game.
“It is possible to control the game, to score a lot of goals and build some confidence. It is our first game in this season’s FA Cup and it is very important to start well because we do not know where a cup run can go.”
The Vitality Women’s FA Cup fourth round tie between Huddersfield Town and Everton kicks-off at 1pm on Sunday afternoon. Supporters can pay cash admission on the turnstiles while card payments will also be accepted at the ticket office at The John Smith’s Stadium.