Brighton & Hove Albion manager Hope Powell says that her side must become better when in possession of the ball to be more competitive against the ‘top four’ in the Barclays FA Women’s Super League.
The Seagulls travel to Manchester City this weekend after playing well in spells in away fixtures against Chelsea, Arsenal and Manchester United this season.
Brighton have emerged with credit from all three of those matches but manager Powell believes that her side need to improve their in-possession work if they are to close the gap between themselves and the more established teams.
“In order to prove to ourselves that we can compete with them more regularly, we have got to possess the ball better, build and create more chances,” Powell told FAWSL Full-Time in her pre-match press conference.
“That’s the difference between the best and the rest, they have more possession, they create more chances. We have less possession and create fewer chances and that makes it very, very hard. When you haven’t got the ball, it is a tough gig and that is something that we have got to work on going forward.”
Brighton & Hove Albion held Manchester City to a goalless draw in the first half of the reverse fixture back in January yet they ended up losing the game 6-0. Powell went on to highlight the quality in The Cityzens’ ranks.
She said “We did match Manchester City for the first 45 minutes at home but then the second 45 minutes told a different story. It just shows the calibre and the level of players that they have, you can see from the table that they are on the verge of third after getting all of their players back.
“It shows the depth that they have and tomorrow, we will have to be absolutely on it to get something out of the game. I say it every week but the league is very demanding and if you don’t play to a level, you are very easily punished.”
Brighton & Hove Albion’s Barclays FA Women’s Super League fixture at Manchester City kicks-off at 11.30am on Saturday morning.
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