Aston Villa analysis with football writer, Hannah Pinnock

With Aston Villa the visitors at Brisbane Road for Sunday’s Barclays Women’s Super League fixture (2pm KO), Villa reporter Hannah Pinnock, who covers the club for Birmingham Live, gives us her insight into our opponents.

Successful season so far

“Across the board, in the summer they got their recruitment right and invested well in snapping up a player like Rachel Daly (who has scored 21 goals this season, holds 66 England caps and is a Euro 2022 winner). It was absolutely exceptional business from the club and it’s paid off. With the likes of Kirsty Hanson coming in on loan and Kenza Dali coming in as well, Villa’s recruitment in the summer was fantastic. Carla Ward is now getting a settled squad together and they’ve been absolutely brilliant all season, I’d argue.

“At the start of the season, the target was probably top six. Publicly Carla Ward said they wanted top eight, but privately they were targeting that top six. They’re absolutely exceeding that. They’ve been brilliant in cup competitions as well. Unfortunately on Sunday, they couldn’t quite get it over the line in the FA Cup, but the fact that they were in a semi-final, 90 minutes away from Wembley, is absolutely fantastic. 

“The target now for Villa should be making sure that they stay there and it’s not just a flash in the pan this season. They have to keep building from this position of strength to make sure they’re the best of the rest every year.”

Impact of Kirsty Hanson, on loan from Manchester United

“I think Villa need to do everything in their power to keep Kirsty Hanson with them. In the FA Cup semi-final on Sunday she was the best player on the pitch despite being on the losing team. She’s so dynamic and powerful on the wing, especially because she’s got brilliant pace. She can score goals as well which is brilliant. Her crosses into the box for Daly are a huge plus. She’s been a huge player for Villa this season and I hope that they can keep her."

Memories of Mana Iwabuchi

“I remember when Mana signed for Villa. Every time I watched her, you could tell she was a cut above, always 100 percent the best player on the pitch whenever she played for Villa, at a time when they were struggling. Having her influence lifted the team a lot. When you’ve got a player of that calibre, considering they were still establishing themselves in the WSL as a team, it does raise the levels of everybody else. I’m sure she’s doing a brilliant job for Spurs at the moment as well.”

This weekend’s game

“I think it’s quietly a big game for both teams. On paper, it looks like a bigger game for Tottenham because of where they are in the table and they’ve got to do all they can to stay up. I’m confident Spurs will stay up, but I think it’s a bigger game for Villa than people give it credit for. They’re comfortable with where they are in the table and have no threat of relegation, but after the heartbreak of the Chelsea game on Sunday, it’s really important that Villa have a performance where they do bounce back and don’t have that FA Cup hangover. That would’ve taken an awful lot out of them mentally and physically. 

“You could tell on Sunday that every single player in a claret and blue shirt gave it absolutely everything and that was visible with how they all dropped to the turf at the final whistle. From Villa’s perspective, to have a positive performance on the back of that is really important just to have a little bit of momentum into these final few games to make sure that they do maintain that fifth spot. Top six would be the target but, quietly, given that they are fifth, if they were to let that slip between now and the end of the season, I think they’d be disappointed. 

“It’s important that they have a positive end to the season. It will be a difficult game. It was a very tightly contested one at Poundland Bescot Stadium earlier this year. Bethany England is fighting for a World Cup place, so it will no doubt be another really tight game. It’s about whether or not Villa can put that cup game behind them and really bounce back.”