Manchester United head coach Marc Skinner says that his side must aim to silence the home crowd when they face Manchester City at The Etihad Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
The Red Devils are set to contest the second Manchester derby of the season in the Barclays Women’s Super League with more than 38,000 fans expected at The Etihad Stadium.
When speaking in the pre-match press conference, Manchester United boss Skinner said that his side must aim to silence the home crowd and neutralise the occasion.
“When we played at Old Trafford, it was fantastic to play in-front of our fans but it was one of those where the opponent can use that energy against you,” Skinner said.
“We’ve got to try and neutralise the fans and the energy in the stadium, turn it in our favour. There’s no doubt that the Manchester United fans in that pocket that they get will be as loud as they possible can be.
“We’ve got to put it in a place and the game in a place, knowing how difficult it is to play against Manchester City. We’ve got to turn it into a quiet stadium, that’s what we need to do. We know that it’s very difficult to do that against a good team but that’s what we’ve got to do and the players are preparing for that.”
The prospect of Manchester United securing European qualification again this season is slim but Skinner wants his side to keep the heat on third-placed Arsenal by recording a big result at The Etihad Stadium.
He said “We’ve got to chase and that’s what we are here to do, we’ve got to put ourselves in a position to do that. We’ve got to go to the Etihad, a very difficult place and a very difficult team, but we’ve got to try and win a game of football.
“We’ve got to use the kind of derby contention, all of those factors, but we’ve got to try and get to a place where we can win the game. Not many teams do it but that’s what we’ve got to do. We’ve done it before and that’s what we are aiming to do again.”
Manchester United’s Barclays Women’s Super League fixture at Manchester City kicks-off at 12.30pm on Saturday afternoon.