- LCFC Women tackle Manchester United Women in the Continental Tyres League Cup on Sunday (12pm kick-off)
- Ashleigh Plumptre has fond memories of Leigh Sports Village after the Foxes’ FA Cup success there in May
- She is expecting a different game this time after the Red Devils triumphed in the previous WSL encounter
- City are also hoping to build momentum to head back into the league schedule with confidence, the defender adds
Following the weekend trip to Leigh Sports Village, which sees second take on third in Group B, further Barclays FA Women’s Super League fixtures come against Arsenal and Birmingham City in December, presenting an opportunity to secure a maiden win.
While focus within the group is currently on Sunday’s cup tie, with the group table finely poised heading into matchday three following victory over Durham, Plumptre believes the game could also provide a route to push forward ahead of moving back into the league schedule.
“I think this week of training has been really good for us,” the defender, who was recently on camp with the Nigerian national team, told LCFC TV. “Everyone’s in good spirits. We’ve come back refreshed and just raring to go really and excited for the upcoming games.
“We’ve said throughout the games we’ve played so far, we’re getting better and better. I feel like the international break came at a bad time for us because we almost had momentum, but hopefully we can get a result at the weekend.
“Every time we step onto the field anyway, we’re ready to compete. We’ve played Man United already this season and since that game we’ve come on leaps and bounds, so hopefully we’ll be able to show that on Sunday.
“That’s what we’re waiting for now. Just getting a few points, getting on the board and then hopefully we can keep the ball rolling from there on now.”
Plumptre has featured in 10 of LCFC Women’s 11 fixtures across all competitions this term, often partnered alongside former Manchester United centre-back Abbie McManus at the heart of the Foxes defence.
The 23-year-old sees the experience that McManus has brought into the side as invaluable to support the team’s growth in their maiden top-flight campaign, despite a tricky start to life in the division.
She continued: “I look up to Abbie [McManus] a lot. She’s obviously a lot more experienced than me and I’m still learning at 23. She’s been in the game a long time, she’s obviously very knowledgeable and I look to her as much as I can to keep growing really.
“We have a good relationship on and off the pitch and I think that helps in terms of communication and learning. It’s people like that who keep morale high. It doesn’t matter what the circumstances are, they’ll always come out and perform the exact same every day in training and it shows in games as well.
“Obviously we haven’t been getting the results, but there are a few performances that can be highlighted, and Abbie is one who has been very consistent.”
City were defeated 3-1 in the WSL encounter against the Red Devils near the start of the season, but did emerge from their last trip to the north west with a win in the Vitality Women’s FA Cup.
Although the squad and coaching staff have changed since then, with Head of Women’s Football Development Emile Heskey overseeing the squad ahead of new First Team Manager Lydia Bedford taking charge from 6 December, replicating that performance is City’s aim.
“We’ve had a few games since the last time we’ve played Man Utd and we’ve had games where we’ve just got better," the centre-back added on the challenge awaiting them. "So it’s going to be a completely different game to the one we played before.
“We even took positives from that game despite the result, but now we are, not a different team, but we’ve grown a lot since then, so hopefully we’ll get the outcome that we deserve.
“It will good for us, because we haven’t been there (at Leigh Sports Village) since May and the last time we went up there, we got a win, so if we can replicate that, then that would be great.”
All times GMT.