Leicester City manager Willie Kirk says that he wants his side to perform from the first whistle against Manchester City this evening.
The Foxes host The Cityzens in a top of the table clash at The King Power Stadium. Both teams are unbeaten so far this season having collected seven points from an available nine in the Barclays Women’s Super League.
Leicester City recorded a spirited 1-1 draw with Manchester United last weekend. Manager Kirk took positives from that game but he does want his side to be better in stamping their authority early on.
“The Manchester United game in isolation gave us confidence but also highlighted things that we need to improve on,” Kirk said when speaking in the pre-match press conference. “We need to start the game better, the game could have been out of sight but we found a way to hang in there. The players certainly changed their approach in the second half and we were much better.
“It is a really good reference point for us that we need to start the game like that and sustain it for 90 minutes if we are going to get a result.”
Kirk went on to highlight the qualities that Manchester City will bring to The King Power Stadium, although he has struggled to weigh them up in the opening weeks of the season.
He said “They have lots of quality and they’re physically good. I think they’ve changed slightly and have become a little bit more direct at times and more aggressive out of possession. I’ve been really impressed with them so far.
“It has been difficult to fully-analyse them because of the sending offs. You can watch the first 70 minutes against West Ham until the player gets sent-off, the Chelsea game is really difficult to analyse apart from up until Alex Greenwood’s sending off and the Bristol game was just waves of attack. I don’t think Manchester City had a goal kick. It is hard to analyse them on the basis of those three games.
“We know that individually and collectively, they are a top team and we know that Gareth (Taylor) is a top manager, I’ve got a lot of respect for him. Gareth will always have his teams playing a certain way, so we are aware of some patterns. It is about nullifying those threats and trying to bring our own game to them.”
Leicester City’s Barclays Women’s Super League fixture against Manchester City kicks-off at 5.15pm. Tickets remain on-sale and can be purchased by clicking here.
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