Rehanne's five-point preview - Bristol City

Spurs Women Head Coach Rehanne Skinner turns her attention to Wednesday evening’s big Barclays FA Women’s Super League fixture against Bristol City at The Hive (7.30pm UK).

1 - Response

Despite a couple of setbacks in our past two games, what has Rehanne made of how the players have reacted?

“The players have responded really positively. We were frustrated with the [Aston Villa] game on Saturday and we think we could have done better. Given the volume of possession we had, we should have taken something from the game. Off the back of the game, it’s about recovery and putting in the hard work to ensure we have everything in place for Wednesday’s game as it comes around quickly.”

2 - Team news

With the squad receiving a few injuries recently, what could Rehanne tell us about when we could expect the players to return?

“We’re still in the same position with Rachel Williams and Becky Spencer where they’re going to be out for a little bit longer - certainly not featuring before the international window, as with Hannah Godfrey as well. All being well, they should be back with us after that period.

“Chloe Peplow is back on the pitch and she’s progressing well which is great to see. It’s going to be a staged approach on the final phases of her return.

“Ash Neville and her partner welcomed a new baby on Sunday, and she is spending some quality time with her family.”

3 - Bristol City test

Despite Bristol City sitting at the foot of the league table, they come into the game in good form, but what does Rehanne make of our opponents?

“Bristol have come off the back of a few good results. You can see the work ethic and the team togetherness that they have, and they are battling for every point.

“For us, we’re in the same boat and we’ve got to battle for every point. It is going to be a tough test. I think you saw that when they played West Ham, they rightly won’t give up on things and neither should we, so it should be a really good game.”

4 - Driving standards

So-hyun Cho made her debut on Saturday against Aston Villa, what did Rehanne make of her performance and the different dynamic she brings to the team?

"So-hyun is a world-class player, she is great at finding pockets of space to receive the ball and the more we have her on the pitch, the more the team can find her in those spaces. The upcoming South Korean camp which So-hyun was set to feature in has been cancelled so the team now have more time and opportunity to work with her.

“Abbie [McManus], meanwhile, is making an equally important contribution in defence. She is forming a strong partnership with Shelina [Zadorsky] and the rest of the back line. Her professionalism and communication is really helping to drive the standards even higher than they were previously in training.

“They have both impacted the squad really positively and the relationships they are developing will continue to improve over time."

5 - Crucial run of fixtures

Our next three fixtures are against Bristol City, Brighton and Reading - all teams in similar positions to us in the table. Going into the latter half of the season, how important did Rehanne think it was to pick up positive results in these upcoming games?

“Every game is important, and we want to take points off as many teams as we possibly can. I think last weekend’s games proved a point that every team in the WSL is more than capable of competing and taking points off each other.

"From our perspective, we are not looking at the table or where teams around us are, our focus is solely on ourselves and what we can control. We are taking a game-by-game approach, focusing on the next game, learning from each performance and taking new things into the next one which will help us win that game."