Reading manager Kelly Chambers says that her side thrive on games against top opposition like Arsenal.
The Royals travel to the LV Bet Stadium to face The Gunners in their latest Barclays Women’s Super League fixture on Sunday evening.
When speaking in the pre-match press conference, Reading boss Chambers knows what a tough test this weekend’s fixture will be but she insists that her side thrive on the big games.
“We understand that it is going to be a tough test for us,” Chambers said. “We have to just concentrate on our performance and making sure that stays there. We are playing well at the minute and it feels as though we are in a really good place performance-wise, so we need to try and keep that going against Arsenal.
“They have unbelievable individuals, they have an unbelievable squad, so we know it is going to be tough for us, we don’t sit here and hide away from that. We know that we have got to be strong defensively, we’ve got to try and cover all of the spaces.
“It is a challenge for us that we thrive on, we tend to lift our game when we come up against the likes of Arsenal and Chelsea. The girls will be ready for any challenge that is thrown at them and I believe that they’ll have a good performance at the weekend. In previous games, we’ve really pushed the top teams to close margins and we just have to try and make sure that we maintain that.”
The Barclays Women’s Super League is more competitive than ever before and Chambers believes that any team can cause an upset on their day. The key to being successful against the top teams is to be organised from front to back.
She said “It is what the league is about, anybody can take points off anybody on any day. We know that we will prepare well for the game, we have analysed Arsenal and have looked at what threats they can impose on us. We have got to be defensively strong first and foremost before we can even think about anything else.
“We relish these games. They’ll be on a high from winning the Conti Cup final and they had another game in midweek, so they’re on the back end of a three-game week.
“We have to take confidence from the performances that we have had against big clubs this season, even though we have been in a tough spot. We have played Arsenal in previous games and managed to pick up points.
“We are not naive enough to think that we can go and win this game straight off but we have looked at the elements that we need to cover and first and foremost, we have to make sure that we are strong across the pitch.”
Reading’s Barclays Women’s Super League fixture at Arsenal kicks-off at 6.45pm on Sunday evening.
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