Amber Hughes is raring to go as Wolverhampton Wanderers prepare to face Nottingham Forest in the third round of the Women’s FA Cup – and head coach Dan McNamara is thrilled to have her back.
Amber Hughes – who has scored over a century of goals for third-tier Wolves, averaging roughly a goal a game – missed the previous round due to a small injury, meaning she also missed out on the club’s television debut – but she gets another chance to grab the broadcast spotlight at Hednesford on Saturday.
“I think she’s one of the best in our league,” McNamara told SheKicks.net. “I think she’s one of them that probably suffers because of the professionalism of the WSL2 – I really do believe that a fit Amber Hughes can play in WSL2, as can a lot of the girls. Thankfully for us, they choose to play for Wolves.
“She was gutted last time out. The family were probably gutted as well – they wanted to come across and be part of it.
“But we’ve got the opportunity to put her back on the pitch and do that again on Saturday, so delighted to have her back.”
Dan McNamara: I want Wolves to express themselves
Rather than their usual SEAH Stadium in Telford, Wolves will be hosting their WSL2 opponents at Hednesford – a ground they have played at before but that McNamara thinks Forest will also enjoy.
“The surface is up there with the best in the West Midlands – I think it’s unbelievable – but we chose to take it because we wanted to create the history again, we wanted to be part of this Channel 4 and TNT [broadcast].
“It’s going to be two great teams, that fierce rivalry, going at each other and trying to represent the women’s game in a fantastic way.
“I want the girls to really express themselves. I don’t want them to be scared of the moment. I want them to go out and show that they are capable of playing at that level. This is our test for the year. This is our opportunity, if you like; we want to be playing the Lights of Nottingham Forest week on week next year.
“So the girls have got to prove that they’re ready to do that. They’re good enough to do that and they’ve got the heart and the desire to really achieve on Saturday and that’s what we want to see.”
McNamara: The Women’s FA Cup has been kind to us
Drawing a WSL2 side in the third round of the cup is, of course, not what any team would want, but McNamara is pragmatic.
“The competition has been so kind to us over the last few years. It’s created some unbelievable memories as a group. So why not again on Saturday?”
He added: “We won’t be scared of the occasion. We will be going into it fully confident, as the girls should be off the back of the performances that they’ve been putting in, with just a mindset of let’s see what happens, let’s see how we perform, let’s see how the game goes and hopefully the gods will be shining with us and we can do something a little bit special.”
