‘We’ve got to go and give everything’ – Ward looks ahead to Aston Villa’s semi-final at Arsenal

Aston Villa head coach Carla Ward says that her side must give everything as they bid to reach a first major domestic cup final.

The Villans travel to Meadow Park to face Arsenal in a FA Women’s Continental Tyres League Cup semi-final on Wednesday evening.

Aston Villa go into the tie without some key players but head coach Ward believes that her side are prepared and they must go and give it their all.

“Freya [Gregory], Noelle [Maritz] and Miri [Taylor] are cup-tied, Dri [Adriana Leon] is away, Lucy Parker and Lucy Staniforth are out and there are two major doubts,” Ward confirmed when speaking in the pre-match press conference.

“Of course, that is a problem but like I always say, this group will find a way and we will be ready for the semi-final. We are looking forward to it and we’ve got to go and give everything.”

Ward is yet to win a major trophy in her managerial career and she believes that reaching this season’s FA Women’s Continental Tyres League Cup final would be huge for all involved.

She said “It would be major, I think [to get to the final]. I’ve not reached a major final yet, it doesn’t matter what competition it is, I think for me personally, for this group, for this team, it would be absolutely huge.

“It’s going to be a tough ask when we’re up against in my opinion, one of the best squads in the country and we’re certainly thin on the ground, so it’s going to be a huge effort to get there.”

Despite missing some key players for this tie, Ward believes that Aston Villa have plenty of experience to call upon against Arsenal.

“We’ve got winners in our group,” she said. “We’ve got international winners in our group, we’ve got players who have been there and done it. They’ve won a lot, so we’re calling on them to really step up and use their experience; use their international experience as well as their domestic experience and I think that’s going to be really important”

Aston Villa’s FA Women’s Continental Tyres League Cup semi-final at Arsenal kicks-off at 7.15pm on Wednesday evening.

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