Manchester United head coach Marc Skinner says that the Barclays Women’s Super League’s bottom club Leicester City will be a challenge for his side when they meet at the Leigh Sports Village on Sunday.
It is a ‘top versus bottom’ clash in Leigh this weekend but the visiting side have shown huge signs of improvement since the start of the year.
When speaking in the pre-match press conference, Manchester United boss Skinner said that his side’s latest opponents pose a number of challenges.
“I’ve seen the way that Willie [Kirk] wants to go and attack games,” Skinner said. “I think that’s rubbed off on some of their results.
“I’d expect them to not fear us at all and come to try and take some points, so we have to prepare for that and we have to prepare for a high, aggressive press. We have to prepare for a high-energy team and do all the things we can to control that.”
Many teams have opted for low block defending against Manchester United’s attacking prowess this season, something that Skinner does not think Leicester City will opt to do given their aggression in recent games.
He said “I’d expect Willie to be more aggressive. Look at the way he’s attacked Manchester City and in some of the other games against Chelsea and so on; they’ve set up with an attacking kind of temperament and personality. This might be a game where we expect more of a higher press, so we’ll prepare either way.
“It’s something we’re going to have to continue to try and avoid, try and overcome the challenges of the game, but I’d expect slightly different from Leicester. Knowing Willie’s character in the way that he is, I’m pretty sure that he will set up an aggressive team.”
Should Manchester United take three points this weekend, they will extend their lead at the top of the Barclays Women’s Super League table to four points ahead of next weekend’s huge game against title rivals Chelsea. Skinner says that the team are only focused on this weekend’s fixture.
“We don’t look beyond Leicester,” he said “Leicester is our only focus.
“We know the dangers that they have and what they possess, so for us, we are fully-focused. If we perform, on our day we can beat any team in this country; that doesn’t mean we deserve to, but we will try our best to do that.
“That for me, is a really solid foundation for us to bring and I think it’s stabilised our thought process.”
Manchester United’s mindset and mentality of only taking one game at a time is something that Skinner puts down to consistency and resilience. He also knows that Manchester United will need to put on a good performance this weekend in order to claim those pivotal three points.
“It’s allowed us to stay resilient in moments and focused in others,” Skinner added. “For us, it’s about each game focusing fully, so we feel really good going into that game and that we can maximise our potential to win.
“Of course, we want three points against Leicester, but we’ve got to earn it, they’re a very good team. If we don’t perform, then we don’t deserve to sit top and that’s the reality.”
Manchester United’s Barclays Women’s Super League fixture against Leicester City kicks-off at 12.30pm on Sunday afternoon. Tickets remain on-sale and can be purchased by clicking here.
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