Manchester United head coach Marc Skinner says that his side are now a completely different team to the one which lost 6-1 at home to Chelsea just three games into the season.
The Red Devils were their own worst enemies when the two sides met in September with the lack of gelling time under their new head coach clearly a major factor in the defeat.
Manchester United travel to Chelsea for an FA Women’s Continental League Cup semi-final tie tomorrow night as the pair renew their rivalry. When speaking to FAWSL Full-Time ahead of the match, Skinner said that his team is completely different to the one which ran out at the Leigh Sports Village in September.
“We are looking forward to it,” Skinner said. “When we played them the first time this season, we were looking forward to that but we were naive in moments.
“We are a different team now. Chelsea are still a wonderful team and despite the fact that they are not top of the table, they are still the hardest opponents in the country.
“It will be a really tough game but we are a team that wants to fight at the business end and contest for trophies both domestically and hopefully, in Europe in the long term. We know how tough the task is but the players are relishing it and that’s the change in mindset, we are really starting to know that we can be a real threat against Chelsea but we know how tough that task is.”
Manchester United recorded a first-ever win at Arsenal in the quarter-finals and they now must record another first by beating Chelsea on their own turf in the semi-finals. Skinner went on to say that the growth of the team is about winning psychological challenges.
He said “Psychologically, we have to overcome these barriers in your head, it’s not always the opponent in-front of you. You have to overcome those mental barriers and believe that you can beat the opponent and manage their threats, know that you trust and believe in yourselves. Sometimes, it takes that kind of result (at Arsenal) to make you believe that.
“For us, all I have to remind the players to do is just be competitive in training and don’t fear anyone, respect them of course because Chelsea are a very good team but don’t fear them. We are free to make our own decisions and we need to focus on what we want to do to get the best out of us.
We are going to go and do what we can on Wednesday, respect the opponent but show them who we are and put our stamp on the game as best we can.”
The FA Women’s Continental League Cup semi-final tie between Chelsea and Manchester United kicks-off at 7pm on Wednesday evening. Tickets remain available and can be purchased by clicking here.
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