We’re In Good Spirits, Says Plumptre
- LCFC Women face Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday (2pm GMT kick-off)
- The Barclays Women’s Super League fixture will be played at Brisbane Road
- The Foxes picked up their first win of the league campaign against Brighton & Hove Albion last weekend
- Ashleigh Plumptre confirmed that the team aren’t focusing on the WSL table
City recorded their first win of the WSL season with a 3-0 victory against Brighton & Hove Albion at King Power Stadium on Sunday, with Aileen Whelan, Sam Tierney, and Monique Robinson all finding the net.
More recently, the Foxes were knocked out of the Continental Tyres League Cup when they lost 1-0 to Manchester City at Pirelli Stadium. However, the centre-back isn’t fazed by the result, and claims that the impressive performance was pleasing.
“From the outside, with everyone watching us perform at the minute, they can see that we have this belief and confidence about us,” Plumptre said during a press conference on Friday. “Of course, the win against Brighton gives us something to build on, so everyone is in good spirits now.
“Since we’ve come back, with the friendlies included, we’ve had a couple of games each week, so it’s got us into a good rhythm.
“After the Brighton game, we wanted to keep the run of games going and Man City offered that chance, to allow us to build that camaraderie and fluidity in our play.”
As commonly known, points do indeed make prizes, but Plumptre stated that the squad aren’t getting ahead of themselves, and that they must continue to take each game as it comes.
“For us, back-to-back wins will help our momentum going forward, and after that first win it would be big,” the Nigerian defender explained. “But to be honest, the consecutive results isn’t as important as the winning mindset that we’ve installed.
“We honestly do feel like we can carry that forward week in week out if we’re not complacent. Even after Man City we were proud of our performance against them.
“I said to Sophie [Howard] during the game that we didn’t feel nervous or like we were going to concede. We were also so driven to get the result, obviously it didn’t happen but that hasn’t halted our belief.”
Leicester headed into the festive break with zero points from nine games, but have since picked up three points from one in 2023, and City's No.22 spoke about the how the team have kept focused on what’s important.
“Around Christmas, a lot of people counted us out because we had no points,” she continued. “A seven-point gap looks big, but a couple of wins and you’re a point away, and there’s a group of teams in there so it’s not even like we’re just chasing the one competitor.
“At the minute, we’re not distracted by the table, but just focusing on what we’re doing, and we believe if we keep doing that, then the points will come so I’m not worried.
Plumptre: Keeping That Belief
Defender Ashleigh Plumptre speaks to the media ahead of LCFC Women's match against Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday at Brisbane Road.
Tottenham currently sit eighth with nine points, but a victory on the road for the Foxes would see them sit only one win ahead of Willie Kirk’s side, and City will be aiming to capitalise on this.
“They’ll understand that we’ll be on a high from the Brighton result but we’re not losing sight of our targets,” Plumptre informed the media. “We’ll head into this weekend with the same mindset we did last time out and we'll give everything into the game to get a result.
“I don’t like the idea of proving people wrong, I don’t do it for that. I do it to prove to myself what we’re capable of, and that we don’t deserve to be where we are. We’ve all kept that belief and we don’t have to compare ourselves to anybody else.
“With the couple of signings that they [Tottenham] have made recently they’ve got a lot to prove. They’ve invested into the team and they’re not in the position they were last year, so they’ll be looking to beat us.”