London City Lionesses head coach Melissa Phillips says that she recognises that there are areas in the squad that can be strengthened in the January transfer window.
The Pride have gone into the Christmas break top of the Barclays Women’s Championship table after taking 21 points from an available 30 in the first half of the season.
There is a long way to go in the battle for promotion to the Barclays Women’s Super League and London City Lionesses boss Phillips has indicated that she could look to add some further depth to her squad when then transfer window re-opens next month.
“We definitely have some areas where we feel that we can strengthen the squad,” Phillips said when speaking to FAWSL Full-Time prior to the Christmas break. “We obviously had a massive loss with Charlotte Fleming early into the season in our midfield and then we had a loss with Millie Farrow in our front line in pre-season as well so I think there are areas where we can strengthen the squad, in other lines as well.
“It is always tricky bringing players in during the January window. We brought in Shanade Hopcroft and Katie Kitching in the last January window and both of them have been extremely impactful on and off the pitch.
“When you are a team playing in a rhythm and a flow, it’s more difficult for players to come in and impact because you have to learn the style of play, the system, the personnel and build relationships. For example, when Charlotte Fleming went from Chelsea to Leicester the year that they won the title, she didn’t necessarily find her way into that team because they had so much rhythm.
“It is finding a balance of bringing in good characters, top level talent and ones that you know can integrate and impact for the future. Regardless of what league you are in, it is about adding strengths and complimentary pieces around the team so that’s what we are evaluating for January.”
Phillips went on to praise the team for their efforts in the first half of the season whilst commenting that The Pride want much more as they move into 2023.
She said “I’m incredibly proud of the team and I am just so fortunate to work with a group of staff and players who are very driven and have character in abundance, that’s what really drives us to improve each season and each match.
“We’ve not dropped a game in the league since the opening match. We don’t talk about runs and records much but we are really proud of it of course. We are just focused on where we want to go from here and that is a real testament to the group for the hard work that goes in day in, day out. We know the goal and the ambition is clear but we have a group of players who are just really focused and it is a lot of fun to work with that.
“I am very proud of what we have achieved this season but we still want more.”
London City Lionesses return to action on 8 January when they take on Portsmouth at Princes Park in the third round of the Vitality Women’s FA Cup.
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