Aston Villa head coach Carla Ward expects latest opponents Brighton & Hove Albion to attempt to stifle her side’s attacking play.
The Villans face The Seagulls at The Poundland Bescot Stadium at lunchtime. Aston Villa find themselves in the top half of the Barclays Women’s Super League table while Brighton & Hove Albion are desperate to improve after winning just two of their nine league matches.
Brighton & Hove Albion have the worst defensive record in the top flight but Aston Villa boss Carla Ward has identified the fact that the Sussex club have put some emphasis on improving at the back in recent weeks and she expects them to try and frustrate her side.
“They’re very different to what they were under Hope (Powell)” Ward said when speaking in the pre-match press conference. “First and foremost, the game misses Hope and we all know that, she has done an unbelievable job for women’s football over the years and she will be missed.
“It’s a new era at Brighton. It’s still early days to see exactly how he (Jens Scheuer) is going to set his team up but we’ve got to prepare ourselves in the best possible way. I did listen into his press conference and one of the things that they’ve been trying to highlight is the defensive side of the game. We are imagining that they might try and frustrate us and shut up shop.
“We are going to have to be aware of that but we are also going to have to be aware of the threat that they pose on the break as well because they’ve got some very good players, even though they haven’t had a great run. They’ve got good experienced players in that team.”
Aston Villa have a great opportunity to climb the table in the coming weeks. They don’t play a ‘top four’ club in any of their next five matches. Despite the favourable run of games, Ward is only focusing on her side’s next test.
She said “It’s one game at a time. I’ve said it to the players, this game is absolutely massive, it is such a big opportunity to try and get points to keep cementing our position in the top half of the table. I can’t stress it enough, the game is huge and it’s one that we are fully-focused on.”
Aston Villa’s Barclays Women’s Super League fixture against Brighton & Hove Albion kicks-off at 12.30pm. Card only admission will be available at The Poundland Bescot Stadium.
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