Bedford Highlights LCFC Women's Belief Going Into Brighton Encounter

- LCFC Women host Brighton & Hove Albion at King Power Stadium on Sunday (2pm GMT kick-off)
- Manager Lydia Bedford spoke to the media in midweek to preview the clash
- The Foxes will be aiming to climb off the bottom of the Women's Super League standings
- Tickets for the clash on Filbert Way are still available to purchase HERE

City return to Filbert Way in the Barclays FA Women's Super League for the first time since a 2-0 victory over Birmingham City in December, but have returned to the foot of the standings in the New Year. Three points could be enough to rectify that this weekend, though.

Speaking at Belvoir Drive on Friday, Bedford analysed the threats which Hope Powell's Seagulls are likely to pose for Leicester this weekend, pointing to the former England manager's tactical experience. Brighton are currently seventh in the WSL after securing several impressive results in 2021.

"They’re in the position they are because they’ve picked up results in games at critical moments," Bedford told the national media. "They’ve obviously had a little dip pre-Christmas in terms of some of their results, but we won’t underestimate them.

"Hope Powell is a fantastic coach, one I’ve admired for a number of years, and she’ll produce a very organised performance from her team. If you look at the result when we played them last time, it was a tight game and they won in the final moments, so our girls are still hurting from that.

"I remember watching it before I walked in the door and feeling the pain for them for what they put into that game. It’s about making sure we’re as prepared as possible for what we’re about to face and taking the game to them. We’ve got to start on Sunday as we finished against Reading last week."

The memories of that narrow, last-gasp reverse at AMEX Stadium in November, the performance against Reading last weekend, plus the backing of the Blue Army, could be useful tools for the Foxes on Sunday, Bedford believes.

"The fans will be massive this weekend," she explained. "It was a massive edge for us against Birmingham and it will be the exact same this Sunday.

"If we learned anything from the Reading game, we’ve got to go into it believing right from the first whistle, that you can impact the game, because we can’t afford to grow in the second half and perform like we did without taking care of the first 45 minutes.

"I think the girls understand that and they know, when they play well and they work for each other, they can cause problems. Hopefully they’ll do that on Sunday."

A surprise victory for Birmingham over WSL leaders Arsenal returned Leicester to the bottom of the table last weekend, but nothing has changed for Bedford, who says the Foxes must be 100 per cent focused on their own performances in order to climb the standings.

"I don’t think it changes much for us," she added. "If you look at the league this season, lots of teams who have not been expected to win games have won them. Reading beating Chelsea before Christmas is another example of that.

"It doesn’t change anything for us in terms of the fact we’re setting out to be as prepared as we possibly can for every game and then try and get the three points from it.

"Birmingham put in a very resilient performance against Arsenal, so it’s about us focusing on ourselves and making sure we’re ready for each game as it comes. You can’t control anything that happens in any other game.

"Obviously, we were disappointed when we heard about that result at the end of our game on Sunday, especially when we felt we could have got more from the Reading game, but ultimately, if you spent too much time looking over your shoulder and trying to second guess results and positions, we won’t be doing our jobs properly as coaches – which is to prepare our players for the games they’ve got coming up."