Southampton manager Marieanne Spacey-Cale says that her side are only focusing on the present as they prepare to take on Sunderland at St Mary’s Stadium this afternoon.
It is a strong message that The Saints boss has continued to deliver this season given the unpredictable nature of the Barclays Women’s Championship.
Southampton are unbeaten since the opening day in the Barclays Women’s Championship and have been quietly climbing the league table in recent weeks but Spacey-Cale will not allow her side to look beyond their next game.
“The whole season you can take nothing for granted,” Spacey-Cale said when speaking to FAWSL Full-Time. “The table is irrelevant because in two games time, you could be anywhere in the league.
“It is so important that we focus on what we are capable of and we are not looking too far ahead. At the end of the day, everybody is capable of beating everybody and the results already this season have shown that. You can never take anything for granted, all you can do is control what you can and that’s preparing really well, being ready to make changes on and off the pitch ahead of the next game and then getting the players into the mindset of how we deal with the different challenges on the pitch.”
Going on to discuss latest opponents Sunderland, Spacey-Cale is expecting another different challenge. She knows that The Lady Black Cats will be fully committed to their manager Melanie Reay’s methods.
She said “Mel (Reay) is a great coach and a great person, she will be organising her team to be really hard to beat. They’ve also got some very good players who can cause some problems as well.
“It is a different challenge but that is what this league is all about, you have to be the best prepared you can for the opposition that is in front of you.
“Mel will be very organised, she will have a game plan and her players will stick to that game plan because of the respect that they have got for her. We have to develop our game plan, make sure that we put our best foot forward and put in a really strong performance.
“It is a challenge, every game we play in this league is a challenge for different reasons.”
Southampton’s Barclays Women’s Championship fixture against Sunderland kicks-off at 12pm. Tickets remain on-sale and can be purchased by clicking here.
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