Plumptre Looking To Bring Energy & Tempo

- LCFC Women’s next assignment in the WSL is a trip to tackle Arsenal
- The Foxes face the league leaders at Meadow Park on Sunday (6:45pm kick-off)
- Defender Ashleigh Plumptre assesses the challenge ahead and Lydia Bedford’s impact
- City have taken confidence from their triumph over Manchester United, she adds

Preparing to meet the Gunners in a 6:45pm kick-off at Meadow Park on Sunday, City have undergone their first week of training under new manager Lydia Bedford, who took control of the first team on Monday.

Plumptre says the players have been receptive to her managerial and coaching style and are all in high spirits as their latest trip to the capital, and return to Barclays FA Women’s Super League action, looms this weekend.

“It’s been a quick transition,” she told the media in Friday’s virtual pre-match press conference from Belvoir Drive. “It’s a fresh start in a sense. Lydia has fit in really well. She’s come in to try and get to know us.

“She hasn’t just tried to make everything her own, she wants to get to know us as players and people. I think we’ve all bonded well with her. We’ve done quite a few bonding activities already and the spirit is really good.

“We have a change of management, but all the targets are still the same. For us as a group, it’s not like we’re having to adapt to anything, we go out on the pitch and do what we are used to doing already - bringing the hard work and just trying to apply everything that we’re being coached.”

Asked about the key principles which underlay the team’s ethos under Bedford, Plumptre explained how they are focusing on in-possession work and looking to be in a position to deliver a more complete performance in order to start climbing the WSL standings.

The 23-year-old continued: “She’s trying to emphasise energy, tempo and the big thing at the minute is composure. We’re a team who work really hard and obviously defensively we’re getting a lot better and more solid in the formation we’re in.

“But now it’s when we do win the ball, can we make sure we’re relaxed and find feet and start connecting passes and feel more confident on the ball? We back ourselves defensively, but ultimately, we want to be winning games now, not just trying to get a point or a draw.

“The more we feel confident on the ball and get comfortable in tighter areas and we do that in training, I think that will come out on the pitch.”

Last weekend’s encouraging 2-2 draw with Manchester United, followed by a 4-3 penalty shootout victory over their WSL rivals in the Continental Tyres League Cup, showed that Leicester can compete with the top sides in division.

And they will need to do so again on Sunday, with Arsenal leading the way at the top of the table heading into matchday nine. Armed with fresh ideas from the new coaching team, and buoyed by the result at Leigh Sports Village, Plumptre is confident that producing a similar display is well within the team’s capabilities.

“Lydia said she liked what she saw when we played Man Utd and how well we did,” the defender revealed. “In training, she’s changed a lot of things around in terms of getting people in different positions and rotating players a lot. I think that’s good for us.

“We all have to be able to make those adaptations, but for Arsenal, we are just trying to take what we did against Man Utd into that game. We haven’t tried to focus too much on Arsenal, more on just ourselves.

“Hopefully with the confidence we have from the game against Man Utd, we can take that into Arsenal. We’re there to compete, we know what the standards look like, but you go into every game the same and we’re excited for the opportunity.”

All times GMT.