‘A Must Win Game For Both Sides’ – Kirk’s Bristol City Preview

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‘A Must Win Game For Both Sides’ – Kirk’s Bristol City Preview

The mood in the LCFC Women camp is good, according to Willie Kirk, as he targets a fourth Barclays Women’s Super League win of the season against Bristol City.

2024-02-18T08:50:00.000Z

by Matthew Temple

Published

18 Feb, 2024

‘A Must Win Game For Both Sides’ – Kirk’s Bristol City Preview

The mood in the LCFC Women camp is good, according to Willie Kirk, as he targets a fourth Barclays Women’s Super League win of the season against Bristol City.

Matthew Temple

2024-02-18T08:50:00.000Z

‘A Must Win Game For Both Sides’ – Kirk’s Bristol City Preview

The mood in the LCFC Women camp is good, according to Willie Kirk, as he targets a fourth Barclays Women’s Super League win of the season against Bristol City.

Matthew Temple

2024-02-18T08:50:00.000Z

‘A Must Win Game For Both Sides’ – Kirk’s Bristol City Preview

The mood in the LCFC Women camp is good, according to Willie Kirk, as he targets a fourth Barclays Women’s Super League win of the season against Bristol City.

Matthew Temple

2024-02-18T08:50:00.000Z

‘A Must Win Game For Both Sides’ – Kirk’s Bristol City Preview

The mood in the LCFC Women camp is good, according to Willie Kirk, as he targets a fourth Barclays Women’s Super League win of the season against Bristol City.

Matthew Temple

2024-02-18T08:50:00.000Z

Leicester, currently on 13 points, are seven points ahead of Sunday’s opponents, knowing a win could pull them closer to the top six.

Outlining their motivations ahead of the upcoming fixture, here are the main talking points from the Manager’s press conference at Belvoir Drive…

Boosted by an FA Cup win

City confirmed their place in the quarter-finals of the Adobe Women’s FA Cup last weekend with a 6-2 victory over Birmingham City at Pirelli Stadium. Kirk explained how important these cup wins have been for the team.

“The cup games have been nice, and they’ve been high-scoring victories,” the Manager opened with. “They’ve allowed us to keep momentum going, although we’re disappointed to only win once in the three league games.

“The mood is very good at the moment, and that showed on Saturday as we progressed to the quarter-finals which is great, because we want to go as far as we can but it’s back to league business now.

“The players are focused on having a strong second half of the season and I’ve always said we’d improve. We’ve got a lot of numbers and good competition so choosing a team is difficult right now and that’s a positive for any manager.”

The squad

Following the closure of the winter transfer window, which saw Kirk add four more players to his squad, the former Everton manager is delighted with the position he is in, and the flexibility his team are showing on the football pitch.

“We’ve got a lot of different scorers at the moment,” the 45-year-old explained. “And we have quite a free-changing team with players that can play in a variety of positions.

“Jutta [Rantala] played in the no.9 role last weekend which is a first time for us, but she plays there for Finland, and she did well. Aileen [Whelan] then came on and it was a throwback to her younger days when she scored.

“We’ve got good options, which keeps the opposition guessing, and for us to keep things fresh. This then raises the level of training sessions which allows us to demand more from them. The aim is that this makes matchdays easier.”

The Robins

Sunday’s opponents have won just once this season, but the Manager understands the challenge that confronts Leicester this weekend on Filbert Way.

Having analysed the Robins’ style of play and attributes, he hopes his side can rise to the occasion and get back to winning ways in the WSL, as they look to create some distance between them and the teams behind.

Kirk continued: “They’ve got so many attacking threats in terms of pace: Lisa Evans, Ffion Morgan, Amalie Thestrup, so we look at these players knowing that if we don’t kill the game, they’ll always have the chance to be in it.

“You’ll never control the game for 90 minutes, but you have to control it for as long as you can because they can hit you on the counter and be lethal.

“Aston Villa had 34 shots against them, and only came out with a 2-2 draw, because they weren’t clinical enough. If you leave them (Bristol City) in the game, then they’ll punish you.

“I think they’ll let us have the ball but will try to stop us playing football in certain areas of the pitch. They’re a young, hungry team who have a point to prove and we know what that feels like, so we know how dangerous they will be. It’s a must win game for both teams.”

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