Fixtures
- Aston Villa Women Vs. Arsenal Women – Sun, Mar 24th 2024, 18:45
Carla Ward addressed the media from Bodymoor Heath on Friday morning.
Aston Villa Women’s manager faced questions from the journalists ahead of her team’s Barclays WSL fixture against Arsenal.
Here’s what she had to say…
On how the squad is shaping up…
“We know that we’ve got a fair amount [of players] out with injuries. We’ve had a couple of players not train all week through illness, a couple of major doubts. Nothing changes really, we’re still very thin on the ground.”
On preparations…
“It’s been tough because you have to adapt what the week looks like. There have been a couple of days where we’ve only had 12 [players] training which is not ideal. We’ve got the academy in to help boost numbers and try to get some additional work done. It is what it is, I’m used to these situations. Everywhere I’ve been I’ve faced similar situations. We’ll be prepared, the girls will be ready and we’re looking forward to it.”
On expecting a backlash against Arsenal…
“I think it’s the worst time to play them. They’ll be hurting – for a number of reasons. You don’t want to play them after they were beaten in the way they were. I think it’s always tough playing against Arsenal but there’s no doubt that they will want to react. We have to face that.”
On playing at Villa Park…
“I don’t know what the attendance is looking like but you’d like to think we can start creeping up and matching those other teams that are filling stadiums. Certainly, we’ll be looking forward to it. We love playing at Villa Park. It’s one that we’ll look forward to for sure.”
On reflecting on the season in general…
“It’s definitely been up and down. It’s like being in a boxing ring… you get punched, you get back up, you throw a punch, you’re quite happy, then you get knocked down again. It’s just been one of those seasons. We’re resilient here, that’s one thing we are. We like to get up, roll our sleeves up and find a way and we’ve continued to do that. We’re still within touching distance of the top six. I said before we kicked a ball if we finished in the top six it would be a very successful season. We’re not too far away from ending the season well.”
