Manchester United came away from the Etihad empty-handed at the weekend, with City winning the local derby 3-0.
Head coach Marc Skinner said immediately after that match that City’s “deadly” attack had punished them – but added that he did not think the scoreline necessarily reflected a big gap between the two teams.
He said at the time: “It’s a strange feeling to have lost the game 3-0 and still feel that the opponent wasn’t that far ahead of you.”
And before United’s UEFA Women’s Champions League meeting with Wolfsburg, Skinner spoke to the media and reflected on what he and his team had learnt from that defeat.
“I think the biggest thing that we’ve learned from the game is that you can have all the play in the middle of the park and control the pitch as much as you can – it’s the most, I think, possession we’ve had against Manchester City – but you’ve got to be clinical in both boxes.
“And we’ve got to create more dangerous situations in the final third.
“And we’ve got to utilise the fantastic defensive record we have with the players that we have.
“So I think what we’ve learned is to be just a little bit more focused in both zones of the final pitch, parts of the pitch, and really, really, empty the tank and go all out because, it’s an international break after this.
“Our players have been, and I’ll stress this, our players have been excellent this first part of the year. And so for our players to go away [for the international break], they deserve to work hard in this one and try and come away with a victory.”
Manchester United: Champions League team news
Skinner said that he has the same squad to pick from as he had against Manchester City, with goalkeeper Phallon Tullis-Joyce ruled out with what has now been diagnosed as a fracture of the eye socket.
That means Safia Middleton-Patel is expected to continue in goal, having made her Champions League debut against Paris Saint-Germain last week.
