We preview the SSE FA Women’s Cup 4th Rd tie between Millwall Lionesses and Nottingham Forest LFC.
Nottingham Forest of the FAWPL go to WSL 2 side Millwall Lionesses in the Fourth Round of the Women’s FA Cup this weekend respectful of their opponents but confident they will not be overawed or outfought WRITES PAUL NICHOLSON.
The Premier League Northern Division team currently sit second from bottom of the table, but have somehow pushed their league form aside to enable an encouraging run in the cup, and manager Ross Thorpe – who only took on the role in January – believes that the changes have not helped the team.
He said: “To be fair, they’ve had a couple of different managers this year, and different voices around the place, so yes, it’s been a challenge in the league this year.
“But [since I have come in] we have played Leicester, who were fourth in the division, and took them really close. We took Blackburn – who a running away with the league this year – two weeks ago really close.
“I think what people lose sight of is, we’ve got an experienced group in terms of players that have played at this level for longer than just this season, and the cup has been a nice distraction.
“With the exception of the Wolves game, we’ve gone into those games as underdogs, and we’ll go into Sunday as underdogs, and I think the girls thrive on that and they want to show how good they are.
“I don’t want people to look and judge us [solely] on our league position.”
Thorpe is certain that the possibility of a big Millwall crowd will not adversely affect his team’s performance on Sunday, as their third round win at Derby was also played in front of a huge attendance.
“We actually spoke about that a lot before the game against Derby. There was a big crowd, and whilst most of them were there to support Derby, we had to use that to our advantage.
“So if we can go there and worry about ourselves, and not worry too much about the crowd or who we’re playing, and just go and focus on us, we’re realistic enough to know that Millwall are going to be full of good players because of the level of football they’re playing at, so it’s just a case of going there with our game-plan and trying to do what we can do as oppose to worrying about other factors that we can’t control.
He points to the fact that, although they are having a poor league campaign, Forest are “not a team in freefall”, but have been an “established Premier League club” for years now, and have done well in seasons prior to this one.
As such, whether they were going into the game this weekend as favourites or underdogs would make little difference to them.
Long-serving Forest striker (and assistant manager) Andi Bell, with the cup at the 4th Round draw (FA via Getty)
“The only pressure on the day for us, is the expectations we will put on ourselves, because we’re not going down there just to make up the numbers.
“Millwall are an established WSL 2 team, but we believe we are good enough to go there and give a real good account of ourselves, and if we can do that, then I’m sure the result will take care of itself.”
But Thorpe does not believe that the WSL Spring Series only having started last week – meaning the Lionesses have only played one competitive game since November – will give his side any physical advantage.
“They are a club that have been working at that level for quite a while, so they’ll be used to starting the FA Cup as only their first or second competitive game.
“[Millwall] will have good support off the pitch in terms of their strength and conditioning, and their training, so while they won’t have played a lot of competitive games, they will have played a few ‘behind closed doors’ games, they’ll have played a number of in-house games, and the girls will all be at a good level of fitness.
“Because of the stature of Super League 2 they have to operate to keep the girls, not just football fit, but physically and mentally fit. I don’t think Millwall will worry about that and whatever they put at us, we have to cope with.”
If Nottingham Forest’s performance on Sunday matches the confidence their manager has in them, then there is every chance that an upset could be on the cards.
“I think, from our point of view, we’ve enjoyed what we’ve had so far [in 2017]. It’s another game, and obviously it’s a slightly different competition, and a slightly different level of expectation.
“I’m not going to sit here and say we’re going to go down there and do this, that or the other. I just want the girls to go down there and say ‘this is what we’re about’. We’ve got some really good players in our group that we, as a football club, are very, very lucky to have.
“In my opinion, we have a couple of girls that are of a Super League 2 standard. I look at Lyndsey Harkin (nee Cunningham) who, a couple of years ago was playing WSL football for Donny Belles. Laura O’Neill was playing last year for Notts County.
“We’ve not just pulled lots of people in from grassroots football. We’ve got a group of, not just players, but people.
“Yes it’s going to be tough, but if them players can come off and say they’ve given me everything they’ve got then the rest becomes irrelevant because in all fairness, it should take care of itself.
“From our point of view, it’s a one-off game, and we’ve seen it year after year after year in football, that – with an element of luck – any team can beat anybody in cup football.”
MATCH DETAILS: Kick-Offat St Paul’s Sports Ground is at 2pm on Sunday 19 February, and tickets are available on the door priced £5 for Adults and £2 for concessions.
Read interview with Millwall’s Ashlee Hincks & Leighanne Robe in our FREE WSL2 Preview Guide here:
