Rehanne previews Spurs Women v Brighton

Rehanne Skinner takes charge of her first game for Spurs Women this weekend, following her appointment as Head Coach a fortnight ago, when we return to action in the Barclays FA Women’s Super League (WSL) to host Brighton & Hove Albion at The Hive.

Sunday’s (6 December) home fixture will also see the return of a limited number of fans at The Hive as we welcome back our Season Ticket Holders following the Government’s confirmation last week that London has been placed in Tier 2 of the new localised COVID-19 restriction measures.

“I can’t wait for the game to be honest,” Rehanne smiled. “Obviously, getting fans back in the ground is a massive bonus for us and it just happens to have fallen at a time that’s pretty fortunate for me with it being my first game, and we’re at home. The players are really looking forward to it and having that support, increased atmosphere and being able to connect with the supporters is just such a massive part of the game.”

Having only started in her role at the Club officially on Monday (30 November), and with four members of our team returning from international break this week, our new Head Coach hasn’t had long with the squad in the build-up to Sunday’s WSL clash, but she is pleased with what she has seen from the players so far in training.

“I think the international break is great for players who get the opportunity to go and play for their countries,” Rehanne commented. “The challenge for us in this time is people have gone in different directions a little bit, including myself. The timing of it has created a few challenges for all of us but ultimately everyone has worked really hard when they’ve come back into training.

“We’ve had three days together really this week and I think overall the players’ attitude and application has been brilliant. Every training session has got better and better and everybody is in a good place, so we’re now looking at pushing on and obviously translating that into the game this weekend. I can’t fault the players’ approach to training this week, it’s been excellent and really positive.”

We overcame Sunday’s visitors on both occasions in the WSL last season with narrow 1-0 victories and Rehanne is expecting it to be another tough contest as we continue to search for our first league win of the season.

“A Brighton team under Hope Powell is always going to be organised, diligent and difficult to break down, so for us that’s where that in-possession positivity and confidence has got to come in,” said Rehanne. “We’ve got to be prepared to be brave, get on the ball and make things difficult for them by having good quality movement in and around the ball and in advance of the ball. I think that then obviously creates some challenges for Brighton to have to solve and if we don’t ask them enough questions then it will be a little bit easier for them to manage us, so we really have to go into the game asking those questions.

“For me the biggest thing is that the players have to trust in the game plan that we’re going to set out to do. They’ve got to have a little bit more belief in their own ability and have the confidence to help each other to be really positive in possession. We’re getting into positions where we can score goals but aren’t finishing those chances. We’ve got to be a little bit more ruthless in reality and in and around the box, especially from open play – we’ve done some work on that this week so hopefully that carries over into the game.”

Our new Head Coach was boosted by the return of Jess Naz to team training last week, with the forward in contention to feature against Brighton on Sunday, having been out of action with an ACL injury since August, 2019.

“Jess is in a great place in terms of training, and on the pitch she’s looking sharper and sharper all the time,” Rehanne continued. “She gives us something a little bit different as well, so from our perspective, we’re hoping to get her on the pitch as soon as possible. I think we’re very close to that now, there’s possibly an opportunity to get her into the game this weekend, but it’s going to be sooner rather than later – if it’s not this weekend then we’re hoping towards next week for sure.”

As a reminder, access to Sunday’s match against the Seagulls is exclusive to Spurs Women Season Ticket Holders and we are unfortunately unable to offer general admission tickets.

The attendance of away supporters is not permitted within the initial return of fans this weekend and will continue to be reviewed with Clubs by the WSL. Fans living in a Tier 3 area are also not permitted at The Hive as per government guidance.

Fans who are unable to attend Sunday’s game against Brighton can follow the action live on The FA Player.