Skinner: We’re in a good space

Skinner: We’re in a good space

Manchester United Women boss Marc Skinner says he will never take Tottenham Hotspur lightly ahead of our Barclays Women’s Super League clash on Sunday.

The sides meet for the first time since pre-season when Spurs recorded a narrow victory in the friendly at St George’s Park.

The Reds are unbeaten, with three clean sheets in all competitions, going into the game at Leigh Sports Village.

On Friday morning, Skinner spoke to the press about the team feeling fresh, preparation for the 12:30 BST kick-off and supplying an update on our injury news.

WE’VE GOT A GOOD CHEMISTRY

“We’re in a good space. We’re still learning. I can tell that there are parts of our game that are not smooth but I’ve been happy with our clean sheets. I think that’s huge for us. We’re embedding a new goalkeeper into a starting position. We’re embedding new defenders, new midfielders, new forwards. I’ve been really pleased with the fact that the girls have taken it on. They’ve got this real good chemistry with each other as well. We’re playing some really exciting stuff and, even in training, I’m starting to see little connections in players that haven’t played together before. I think that is really important for us. It’s still our style, but I just think you’ll see individuals do things differently.”

I WILL NEVER TAKE SPURS LIGHTLY

“We’ve got to make sure we’re in good defending positions [against Tottenham] and we do things properly. We can score goals as well. It’s going to be an intriguing game. I won’t take Tottenham ever lightly. I pay every team the respect they deserve and this is a team that can score goals, can create chances, has great counter-attacking ability. We’ve just got to try to control it as much as possible. It’ll be a good game. It will be tight and, if we do our things, then, you know, hopefully we can win the game.”

OUR PREPARATION FOR THE WEEKEND

“I’m sure only Sunday would tell [if the week off was of benefit]. It was good to get some more coaching time. We’re still building relationships, so it was good to get that, but only Sunday would tell. Hopefully, we’ve managed the week effectively. We’ve got two more sessions before Spurs so, hopefully, we can get the last bits of detail and then we go into the game ready. I think, for everybody watching, the games are going to be way more unpredictable this year. You’re going to have to be resilient. You’re going to have to adapt and that’s something I’m looking forward to as a coach is adapting live as well. It’s part and parcel of the job.”

TEAM NEWS

“Anna Sandberg will be missing for probably a few weeks, maybe [until] before Christmas, maybe just after Christmas. She had a knee issue that we’ve we’ve looked at. Then Melvine [Malard] will miss maybe the next two games again, nothing too serious, just a hamstring strain. We’re making sure she’s looked after as well. She did it in the game against Liverpool. Everybody else should be in contention apart from Evie Rabjohn who’s a long-term [one].”

BARRY UPDATE

“Keira Barry is back on the field, so she’s training back on the field now. Hopefully, she’ll be injury free and then will probably be training with us up until Christmas. Then, if she excels, I’ll leave a door open but, if not, then we’re probably looking at a loan in that that window after Christmas to get her game time. What I need from Keira is to stay robust. It’s hard. The kids that have come up from the Academy have struggled with the intensity.”

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