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It's Women’s Football Weekend and you can watch live on The FA Player as the Lionesses travel to Charlton on Sunday, aiming for back-to-back league wins as they continue to improve and develop under Head Coach Melissa Phillips.
In the last competitive fixture between the two teams, the lionesses came out on top with a 2-0 win away from home. With Charlton gaining a creditable 1-1 draw in their last game against Durham, this will be a tough fixture for the Lionesses.
What challenges will the Lionesses face against Charlton?
Phillips explained “Charlton are in really good form right now. They have put together a few good results and good performances throughout the last few league matches. And you know, we expect a challenge on Sunday."
“I think that when we played them in pre-season, the game was extremely competitive. They're a very hardworking team, so we will have to match that and ultimately as you can see with the league that in every game it's the team who shows up and puts out the best performance on the day, with effort and will and desire that's going to get the result. So, we'll have to bring that into the match on Sunday.”
What tests will Charlton bring to the fixture this weekend?
“Charlton's going to be an extremely competitive game. We saw that from when we played them in pre-season this year back in August. That they're scrappy, they're hard-working, they're tough, they're organised. So, it'll be a challenge for us to break them down. And I think as you can see, they are in really good form right now given some of their past results and going up to Durham and taking it to the last minute and even coming away with the draw in that match."
“So, the focus will always be on us and the competitive energy that we bring, the resilience that we bring, the ability to adapt and respond to different situations in the game” Phillips responded.
Derby matches always bring an added intensity. Lionesses midfielder, Lucy Fitzgerald was on hand to give her thoughts, "In every game I think we as a team want to give a hundred percent and really compete at the highest level. So, I think we're just going to give everything in every game, but I think this game we will have a little bit more of an edge.”
And what type of match is she expecting against Charlton?
Fitzgerald replied “I think it’ll be a really tough game; they have been in really good form and got a really good result against Durham last weekend. I think we have just got to perform at our best and work together as a team and carry on our good performances. So, I think it will be a tough test for us”.
The Lionesses kick off at 2pm at The Oakwood ground.
Don’t forget you can watch the game live via the FA Player: Sign up at https://faplayer.thefa.com/home/womens-championship
We’ll also bring you the build-up to Sunday’s game along with live match updates via the London City Lionesses Twitter feed.
Written by Will Oxenham Babb