Manchester United head coach Marc Skinner says that he is keen for his side to put themselves in a great position in their FA Women’s Continental Tyres League Cup group by defeating Leicester City on Thursday evening.
Victory over The Foxes in Leigh would seal at least a runners-up spot for The Red Devils in the group. A points tally of nine is highly-likely to be enough to qualify for the knockout stages.
Manchester United’s final group game is at Manchester City after Christmas and head coach Skinner wants his side to avoid a difficult derby task by defeating Leicester City.
“The reality is that there’s always pressure in a derby,” Skinner said when speaking in the pre-match press conference. “The professional aspect is for us to complete the job against Leicester and do what we can do which is try and get three points.
“I’ve been really happy with the way that we have performed almost all season. We’ve dropped a couple of games where we’ve not been at our very best but I’ve been pleased. Even against Tottenham, it was a super-professional performance, so I want to make sure that we do that again.
“Knowing that Leicester will attack, we will be able to exploit them. I’m looking forward to the game and let’s see what we can do.”
Leicester City managed to collect a point from their Barclays Women’s Super League fixture against Manchester United at The Leigh Sports Village in October. While Skinner believes that his side did enough to win that game, he knows that Leicester City will again bring their threats.
He said “Leicester were good on the day but we should have won the game, that’s clear. They had four shots in the game and just a couple were on target.
“I’ve been impressed with the way that they are playing, so we know what to expect. We’ve both got a quick turnaround, so you’ve got to get back into that rhythm.
“I expect it to be a tough game. We are at home which I want us to maximise and use that to our advantage. I think we can eliminate Leicester from the challenge if we beat them, so we have got to go into the game looking to win it. We’ve got the toughest group, so for us to progress would be excellent.
“We’ve got to be clinical. They will have chances and Willie [Kirk] has got them playing fearlessly. We need to try and control as much of the game as possible.”
Manchester United’s FA Women’s Continental Tyres League Cup fixture against Leicester City kicks-off at 7pm on Thursday evening. Tickets remain on-sale and can be purchased by clicking here.
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