Doncaster Rovers Belles midfielder Bethany England admits Yeovil Town are a force to be reckoned with this season as the two FA WSL 2 promotion contenders prepare to go head-to-head this Sunday.
Doncaster’s charge this term has come as no surprise given they narrowly missed out on the title last year – Sunderland eventually pipping them to the post in a thrilling end to the campaign.
But Yeovil, who finished fifth last season, have emerged as a genuine challenger for one of the two promotion places and currently sit third – just three points behind the Belles.
Earlier this season Doncaster beat Yeovil 2-1, but England says they have improved ever further since their clash at the end of March.
“We were on a good run but we scraped past Yeovil with a 2-1 win last time, they’ve really come on this season and you’ve got to make sure you don’t drop your level when you play them,” said the England U-23 international.
“Having played them already, we know what they’re about and know we can do the job against them so hopefully that will make it easier.
“It’s obviously a long away day for us so it’s potentially a good thing that it’s coming at the end of the first half of the season before the World Cup break.
“It means we can get it done and out of the way for when the second half starts and hopefully we can go into the break with a win.”
Remarkably, the reverse fixture between these sides was the last time Yeovil suffered defeat in the FA Women’s Super League with BT Sport.
Since then the Glovers have gone six games unbeaten – a run which included an impressive 4-2 victory over table-toppers Reading – to claw their way into promotion contention.
And midfielder Helen Bleazard is hoping to put the record straight when they host Doncaster at Sherborne Town this weekend.
“We know from the 2-1 defeat earlier in the year that we can perform against them, we were very annoyed to come away without anything to show for our efforts,” said Bleazard.
“We want to prove a point against them and we are very confident in our ability to do that, but we cannot get complacent because we know how strong they are and what they can do.
“It would be brilliant to maintain that momentum heading into the World Cup break, and depending on how everything goes we could go above Doncaster if we can beat them and that would push us into the promotion spots.
“Our target at the start of the season was to beat one of the top three. We’ve managed that, but we want to keep doing it. We are confident in our own abilities, but just because we beat Reading does not automatically mean we will beat Doncaster.”
Photos: doncasterroversbelles.co.uk and yeoviltownladies.com
SHE KICKS – the online community for women’s football
