‘You get one chance’ – Manchester City have to be up for the cup says Taylor

Manchester City head coach Gareth Taylor is delighted with his side’s form, however, he has highlighted the importance of going into back-to-back cup fixtures on the front foot.

The Cityzens travel to Tottenham Hotspur for a FA Women’s Continental Tyres League Cup quarter-final before contesting an Adobe Women’s FA Cup fifth round tie at Arsenal.

When speaking in the pre-match press conference ahead of the trip to Spurs, Taylor expressed his delight at Manchester City’s form but emphasised the importance of being ready for one-off cup ties.

“The vibes have been good, everyone has been contributing,” Taylor said. “This is what we are after, this is why we are in the game; we want to be in these big moments, have these big opportunities.

“We were top of the table for a few hours yesterday, we are there and we are knocking on the door. To go on this run that we’ve been on has been really impressive and we are excited about what the next week to 10 days brings but also, beyond the international break as well. What we have done is positioned ourselves really well.

“We know in the cup competitions, you get one chance. The league can sometimes feel like a cup competition because you’ve got to be pretty flawless but in the cup competitions, we’ve got to be there, we’ve got to be ready and impose ourselves in the early stages. The vibes from the players have been very good, very positive.”

Going on to discuss latest opponents Spurs, Taylor isn’t expecting the North Londoners to change much since the league meeting a little over a week ago. As always, Manchester City will focus on their own game.

He said “We need to be ready for something different. I think Robert [Vilahamn] is similar to my view on the game in terms of sticking to what you believe in and perfecting Plan A. It’s a process that they’re going through; they know that they’re going to improve and there are things that he needs to help the club to be able to do. I like his type of thinking, it’s good to have real clarity for your players.

“In that respect, we would expect them to be similar, personnel may change here and there. They’ve got Charlton in the FA Cup at the weekend which is a different game to what we have. It might allow them to do different things.

“We just concentrate on what we do and we prepare for all eventualities.”

Manchester City’s FA Women’s Continental Tyres League Cup fixture at Tottenham Hotspur kicks-off at 7.30pm on Wednesday evening.