Melissa Phillips says that everything done by London City Lionesses is in preparation for Barclays FA Women’s Super League football.
The Pride have ambitions of joining English football’s elite over the long term and they got their latest taste of what Barclays FA Women’s Super League football would be like when they faced Arsenal in the fourth round of the Vitality Women’s FA Cup last weekend.
London City Lionesses were defeated by just a single goal at the LV Bet Stadium and head coach Phillips says that the club are committed to building with the vision of becoming a Barclays FA Women’s Super League club themselves in the future.
“Everything we do every single day is to prepare for the Super League, that’s the goal, that’s the ambition of the club,” Phillips told FAWSL Full-Time. “We are constantly thinking about ways that we can improve our infrastructure, the way that we support the players and the professionalism of the club and there has been tremendous growth in the last three years and particularly in the last year.
“It’s hard work to grind and get to that next level and go from the team we were last year to the team we are now. There has been real growth in that process and that’s credit to everyone who has been involved.
“You look at the results that we have had in the FA Cup and Conti Cup against Super League teams and that’s where we want to be. Everything that we can do to get ourselves to that level is what our focus is.”
London City Lionesses’ promotion credentials face a severe test tomorrow when they come up against a Durham side who are known for their physicality on and off the ball. Phillips said that there are things from the Arsenal game which her side have taken away to try to improve their own game starting with this weekend.
She said “Something that we took away from the Arsenal game was when we gained possession, how quickly we were counter-pressed by Arsenal. That was something that we hadn’t experienced this year so that was definitely an area that we can take away and learn, add some pictures to our attack but also prepare for the physical pressure that is coming and have to decision-make a little bit quicker. That is something that we have been able to take away from the last match and it will help us prepare for the upcoming game.
“Like we always do, we are going to focus on our game plan and add some layers from what we have learnt and really look to exploit them (Durham) in different ways.”
London City Lionesses’ FA Women’s Championship fixture against Durham kicks-off at 12pm tomorrow afternoon.
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