.png)
Games often don’t come more dramatic for the Lionesses than last week’s match against Coventry United, where they found themselves down 2-0 after 48 minutes, but fought back valiantly to take a point from the game.
Speaking ahead of City’s clash against Blackburn Rovers Ladies FC, manager Melissa Phillips reflected on the positives taken from such a determined performance.
“It was a game of set piece goals. If you look at how the game went otherwise, we were very much in control from a possession standpoint, and with opportunities created, we were probably a bit unlucky not to get the full three points.
Incredible resilience by the group to come back, and I think, despite a couple slow starts and going down a goal in matches, we all know we’re capable of more.”
Yet last Sunday’s game also held special significance for midfielder Wiktoria Fronc, who completed her first 90 minutes in London City blue.
“It was a little bit out of my comfort zone because it was literally my first 90 minutes,” remarked Fronc, “but I felt the girls were really supportive and I was well prepared.
I had a lot of communication between the girls and felt really prepared over training in the past two weeks, to prepare me. The coaches have been amazing in helping me.”
Despite playing somewhat out of her typically played position, Fronc put in an impressive performance in a league she already can’t get enough of.
“I love how competitive it is,” she said, “and I love how with every game you just don't know what you're going to get.
With the Women’s Super League, there's a huge gap where there's four teams that you come up against, and it's like ‘let’s try to get at least a point here’. But here you're battling in every game which I really like.”
But of course, fuel crises or not, there are some fans that unfortunately can’t make it to games. With that in mind, talk has turned to the FA Women’s Championship being broadcast on TV.
“I think it would be lovely to have the games on TV,” said Fronc, “even if it was just one or two games broadcast per club.
“I have mates always asking, ‘when are you team going to be on TV, we really want to see you play’, and I always point them to the FA Player, but it would be great to get to that next step of TV.”
For now, though, for the fans that are unable to make the 250-mile trip to Blackburn, the game will be available to watch via their website.
But what kind of challenge does Phillips expect for the North-West outfit?
“Everyone's extremely competitive this season. Take the Coventry match. They did an excellent job transitioning into a full-time model and with their summer recruitment. So, we knew it would be a competitive game, despite them not picking up an early result in the season.
We expect Blackburn will be much the same. They have picked up some good results and are always incredibly difficult to play at home and we know it will be a tough challenge for us.
But beyond winning Sunday’s game, what are the aspirations driving Fronc at London City?
“With London City, it’s to win the league,” said Fronc, “I don't think there's any other goal and I feel we’re very capable of doing that. Even looking around the change room, we've got big names and great talents that I think can really push us there.
My own aspirations are obviously to help the team do that as much as possible, alongside also pushing forward on the international scene with Poland.”
For Phillips though, the long-term goals at the club have just been about success on the pitch.
“Our aspirations are so much more than just winning the league. Of course, the ambition is to gain promotion to the Women’s Super League. But we also want to create develop people and footballers in that process who can make decisions, take ownership of their roles and lead themselves and others in a way that's going to propel them to success.
We want to empower each other to be the best version of ourselves and get just a little bit better each day and get as much out of each other that we can so that we are always in the best position for success.”
London City Lionesses take on Blackburn Rovers at 14:00 on Sunday the 3rd of October.