Rehanne: ‘Everybody needs to be ready’

Tottenham Hotspur Women Head Coach Rehanne Skinner says she’ll be needing all of her squad to be prepared for the weekend’s opening game of the Continental League Cup group stages.

We kick-off the tournament against Reading Women at the Select Car Leasing Stadium at 2pm on Sunday.

“We’re training at a high level on a day-to-day basis so our job is to prepare players for each game,” she said. “Everybody needs to be ready at all times and ultimately that’s what the squad’s for, because you need everybody throughout the course of the season. 

“Whether they start or come on in the game, it shouldn’t really matter. That’s what we work hard on in training to ensure people are ready for that. Then it’s up to them to show why they want to be in the starting 11 on a weekly basis. 

“Subs are equally important and sometimes the choice to bring people into a game at a certain time is needed to capitalise on things that are evolving in that game.”

Reflecting on last season’s record-breaking efforts in the competition, Rehanne explained how useful the Conti Cup was to her side in 2021/22.

“It gave us an opportunity to manage the squad effectively,” she said. “It gave us an opportunity for some young players to come on and get game minutes. For us, it was a really positive run across the course of all of those games, to get to our first ever semi-final of a cup competition. 

“That’s something that we want to keep trying to drive towards. We’re making positive steps as a team, we want to try to keep improving league position, and keep being competitive across all competitions that we’re involved in really, so it was a real positive step last year and something that we want to keep striving towards this season.

“Whether it’s a cup game or a league game, every team gives us a difficult challenge and we’ve got to be prepared to mix things up and challenge them.”

Following on from last weekend’s 4-0 defeat against Arsenal, it’s been another hard-working week in training to show a response with the next opportunity.

“We’ve been really honest,” Rehanne explained. “We know that the game wasn’t up to the level of expectation that we have within the team. You have those days and obviously it’s given us an opportunity early in the season to reflect on exactly what we want to be about when we’re going into these games. 

“We want to be giving the best possible account of ourselves, regardless of who that team is that we’re facing. The players did a load of work around their own thoughts and perceptions on that and how they want to improve, and I think that’s all I can really ask for - real openness and honesty and actions on what we’re going to do next. 

“The response in training has been fantastic this week and we want to make sure that we carry that over into the game on the weekend.

“We need to see a response. We’re professional athletes who want to win and that’s what we’re committed to, so we need to make sure we put that in in a much more positive position this weekend and move forward. You can’t dwell and you’ve got to move onto the next game.”

Reading are expecting to set a new record at the for the number of fans at an SLC Stadium women’s game on Sunday - another positive sign of the upward trajectory of women’s football in the United Kingdom.

“Every club is trying to make sure that we capitalise on the fanbase that was collectively engaged in the Euros,” Rehanne said. “It’s fantastic to hear that it’s going to be their record. We should all be trying to break our records this year. 

“Hopefully we can attract each of those local fans to our clubs and keep growing the game, because it’s a fantastic game to come and watch.”

Watching on from the sidelines in the home dugout will be Kelly Chambers, who has represented the Royals in various capacities across the past two decades.

“Kelly’s been around the game a long time,” Rehanne said. “We’ve all been in that position where you’re doing lots of different things in order to operate at the highest level. It’s not the way long-term that clubs should be supporting individual managers and I hope she keeps getting the support that she needs. 

“She works incredibly hard to keep Reading at the forefront of the game in the WSL for such a long time. She deserves a lot of credit for keeping the team to the level that they compete at. They’re always a difficult prospect to go against.”