Manchester City head coach Gareth Taylor says that his side are keen to build last season’s win record at Reading this weekend in addition to qualifying for Europe.
The Cityzens will secure UEFA Women’s Champions League qualification with a point at the Select Car Leasing Stadium this weekend or if Manchester United fail to beat Chelsea.
When speaking in the pre-match press conference, Taylor said that Reading will be tough opponents but his side are targeting a new record of 13 consecutive wins. Manchester City managed 12 wins in 13 Barclays FA Women’s Super League games in the second half of last season.
“They’ve got nothing really to play for other than a bit of pride and trying to go out with a win but we have to be mindful of that,” Taylor told FAWSL Full-Time. “We had success against them a few months ago in the home game here but they are a dangerous team, they have pace in attack and are always very organised with everything that they do.
“We need to attack the game in the right manner, make sure that we are really switched on with and without the ball. We understand the danger of the game this weekend but we recognise the opportunity for us as well, not only to gain qualification to the Champions League but also gaining a bit of pride in ending the season strong. We’ve recorded 12 consecutive wins and this is our chance to build on the record from last season.”
Manchester City have a Vitality Women’s FA Cup final appearance to look forward to next weekend but Taylor said that his side have put thoughts of that game to the back of their minds.
He said “I don’t think we are in a position where we can look to the cup final, that’ll take care of itself, we have some business to finish off on Sunday. One of the strengths of the squad is that we have never looked beyond the next game and I think it’s really important that we don’t do that now.
“We are not secure on Champions League, we’re far from it, there’s work to do. We are in a good position and we’ve worked really hard to get to that position but we’ve got to make sure that we finish the job off on Sunday then we can concentrate on the one after that.”
Manchester City’s Barclays FA Women’s Super League fixture at Reading kicks-off at 12pm on Sunday afternoon.