Come and watch Oxford United Women take on Notts County in cup action this evening
Oxford United Women play host to WSL 1 leaders Notts County on Thursday in their second Continental Cup group 3 match. United lost heavily at Bristol Academy a fortnight ago and although manager Les Taylor expects Notts County to be of similar quality, he is also anticipating a much improved performance from his side in front of their own fans.
“Our work's going to be cut out,” he said. “We've done a lot of work on our shape after the Bristol game, so again I just hope that we're competitive. From the outset we're up against it and those games are going to be difficult, but they're a challenge. We like to go into the big games, hopefully to pull off a win so we'll give it a go.”
Pacy winger Katie Stanley will miss out after picking up a back problem which has affected her thigh, but Taylor believes it offers a chance for one of the younger players to come in and impress, with 16-year-olds Ella Franklin-Fraiture and Chloe Bruce both expected to be included in the squad.
“Sometimes when someone gets an injury that gives someone else an opportunity and it's up to them to take that opportunity with both hands.
“We've got three or four of the under-17s who've done particularly well in their own age group. They've played in the development games and they're knocking on the door of the first team. I'm sure one or two of those will be involved.”
Defender Steph Mobbs says she and the rest of the team are looking forward to pitting themselves against a top side, and is eyeing up a potential morale-boosting win.
She said: “As a team we want to go out and win games, that's what every team wants to do. We've had some really good performances but we just couldn't finish really. We've played some great football in spells but results definitely haven't reflected how we've played. Once we get that first win it'll boost our confidence a lot and make us play even better.”
For just £2 you can get your hands on our fantastic 32-page programme, packed full of great content and exclusive interviews. Tickets are just £5 for adults and £2 for under-16s and over-65s, but if you can't be there in person you can still follow the game via Yellow Player, where we have full online commentary, and via Twitter.