London City Lionesses head coach Melissa Phillips says that she will only look to bring in players who will compliment the club’s current group this summer.
There were wholesale changes made to the personnel at Princes Park last summer but there is set to be less activity 12 months on with London City Lionesses boasting a strong squad who are on the verge of finishing in second place in this season’s FA Women’s Championship.
When speaking to FAWSL Full-Time about her recruitment plans, London City Lionesses head coach Phillips said that the club must look to retain the services of their most important players whilst only bolstering their ranks with individuals who will compliment the group and add further competition.
“It is a very hungry group and it is just about adding complimentary pieces to that,” Phillips told FAWSL Full-Time. “We are conscious of maintaining what we have and I think there are a few key players who have been significant contributors on the pitch that we want to look to retain. That’s priority number one and those discussions have been ongoing.
“We will look to add a little bit more depth and experience to our front-line and then maybe bolster a few key positions that we didn’t get last summer in the window that could help strengthen our style of play.”
London City Lionesses were targeting the title this season but despite falling short, Phillips hailed the achievements of the whole team.
She said “We’ve got a team of 25 players and we’ve had 22 players earning starts, we’ve had 15 different scorers and it is a win by every member of the team, it’s a win by committee, it’s a score by committee. That’s what we have been about this year, we are a very together, unselfish team, a humble, hungry, hardworking group. We know that we can compete with the best and we have shown that in the results against WSL opposition and the results we’ve had against the Bristol’s and the Liverpool’s who are of WSL quality.
“We don’t have an Abi Harrison with 21 goals to her name and I think if you put that in our team, we are right up there competing for that top spot. There were a couple of games where we were left maybe hunting for a goal and that has been the difference.
“We just look to continue to improve our group from a leadership standpoint, continue improving the strength and the core, add a few complimentary pieces to it and we will be in the hunt again next year.”
London City Lionesses complete the 2021/2022 campaign against Blackburn Rovers at Princes Park on Sunday.