As the international break comes to a close, City return to WSL action when they welcome Chelsea on Sunday evening at King Power Stadium (6pm GMT kick-off). During Fridayâs press conference at Belvoir Drive, the Manager discussed several key topicsâĶ
Returning to form
Leicester started 2024 by earning five victories and despite an upcoming challenge against the league leaders, the Manager is confident in his sidesâ ability to put up a good fight on Filbert Way.
âItâs exciting to get back to league action,â Kirk stated. âEspecially after the way we finished before the international break with back-to-back wins and 11 goals. âItâs a shame the break came when it did, because weâve been in good form â we have been since the turn of the year with five wins from seven, so itâs good to be back.
âIt can kill your momentum a little bit, but itâs up to us to restore that momentum and what better way to get back into action than against Chelsea live on Sky Sports.â
The season ahead
A week after Chelseaâs trip to the East Midlands, City are on the travels themselves when they face Liverpool at Prenton Park in the quarter-finals of the Adobe Womenâs FA Cup.
Itching to get going once again, the former Everton manager discussed the recent international break, and the benefits it had on several players, despite some Foxes being sidelined with injury for the weekendâs clash.
âYou can also use the international breaks as a positive,â Kirk continued. âJutta Rantala comes back having scored. Janice Cayman and Sophie Howard got good minutes. Emilia Pelgander had a really good 90 minutes with Sweden Under-23s. âWeâve got big games coming up, including the FA Cup, so thereâs a lot to play for and itâs an exciting time in the season and a big run-in, and more exciting than last season when we were trying to see if weâd stay up.â
Looking at Chelsea
Chelsea come to Leicestershire with a slim lead over Manchester City at the summit of the WSL but following a 5-2 defeat at Kingsmeadow earlier this season, Kirk is hoping Sunday will be a sign of the teamâs development. He added: âOur preparation doesnât change because of the opponent weâre facing. The external expectation last season was that weâd lose each game, but we challenged that.
âWe now go into some games as favourites, so weâre managing to move that needle, but against the top four itâs difficult. Theyâre quite far ahead of the league, but weâll use this weekend as a game to test our progress.
âOur last home games against Chelsea were heavy defeats. I think our last one was my third game in charge, and it was raining hard so that probably sums up the game.
âBut weâre developed massively, and the squad is unrecognisable now. Iâm looking forward to it and the challenge weâve given to the players is earn the right to play our way against Chelsea.â