Foster Believes City Are ‘Hungry To Finish The Season Strongly’
Moving on quickly from last weekend’s Adobe Women’s FA Cup defeat to Tottenham Hotspur, a second trip to north London awaits the Foxes when they take on the Gunners at Emirates Stadium.
Looking to collect as many points as possible from the four remaining Barclays Women’s Super League fixtures, here’s what the Assistant Manager had to say about their next opponents…
Reflecting on FA Cup defeat
A late extra-time winner from Martha Thomas bought an abrupt end to City’s FA Cup push at the semi-final stage, but having had time to recover from the defeat, the Foxes have felt a sense of pride in their performance.
“Of course, it’s disappointing,” Foster stated. “We were off on the Monday and that gave everyone a good amount of time to reflect, I know I did. There was still that huge sense of pride for what we’ve done.
“We set out the target of getting as far as possible and we got all the way to the semi-final, and we came close to going one step further.
“For me, it was the fact that no one could’ve done more. That’s where the result is hugely disappointing, but I felt more at ease with it because of that."
Shifting focus back to the WSL
This weekend sees Leicester travel to the capital once more, to take on an in-form Arsenal side at Emirates in front of 40,000 fans, which will include at least 600 of those travelling from the East Midlands.
Looking to rectify their mistakes, Foster explains how the squad have been focused on the task in hand and are itching to get back out there.
She continued: “What’s great about this group is the hurt and disappointment has been fuelled into making sure they put it right this weekend, which I think shows the level of professionalism in this group.
“It shows how hungry they are to still finish strongly and that’s what’s pleasing. In fact, it’s made my job easier because they’ve already done that and are focused.
"People assumed we were the underdog before last weekend and they’ll say the same now. If people want to view us that way than that’s up to them, but we don’t see it that way and that’s what drives us.
"I expect more tickets to be sold (than last weekend) and it will be louder, but it’s nothing different to what some of our players have seen already in terms of the size of the stadium and crowd. We just need to focus on ourselves."
Learning from mistakes
Conceding from winning positions has become an unwanted theme this season for Leicester, but the Assistant Manager was keen to explain how work has been done behind the scenes at Belvoir Drive to ensure a maximum level of concentration for the full 90 minutes and beyond.
“We had a really positive performance against Aston Villa,” Foster recalled. “It’s just about building on from that. I know it’s frustrating to concede late, but I think that’s been our story throughout the season and we’re doing everything we can to put that right and hold onto leads.
“We’re not getting the rub of the green a lot, but we need to keep doing what we’re doing because no one is going to give us anything for free.
“A lot of it comes down to communication but concentration as well. We’ve done quite a bit this week on fatigue and how we can stay concentrated, and the players have dealt with it well.
“It’s about finding those little moments where we can stay focused on those high-pressure moments which we’ve tried to replicate in training and hopefully it helps on the pitch.”