Smith hopes that Bristol City can take confidence from carrying underdog tag | OneFootball

Bristol City head coach Lauren Smith is hoping that her side can take confidence from being an underdog in their upcoming matches.

The Robins are currently six points adrift at the bottom of the Barclays Women’s Super League table. Six of their final seven matches are against the sides currently occupying places in the top half of the table.

Bristol City have failed to collect maximum points from any of the teams around them in recent weeks and head coach Smith is now hoping that the club can take fresh confidence from being underdogs in the remainder of the season.

“It’s part of the frustration of the last few games; they were the teams in and around us that we’ve not been able to close that gap with,” Smith said when discussing recent results in a Bristol City press conference.

“The teams that are in the top four or five that we’re coming up against, realistically, everybody else already have us beaten by them, so I hope that removing the pressure of ‘must-win’ games will give us fresh confidence. Hopefully, we can go into games not all-out expecting that this is a game that must be a win; we are already on the underdog side of things, so what else can happen that’s worse than that? Hopefully, it gives us the confidence to play with no fear, have a go and ultimately, reduce that gap, that’s going to be the aim.”

Bristol City travel to Manchester United to contest their latest league fixture on Sunday. Smith believes that the pressure is on The Red Devils both in terms of the expectancy to beat Bristol City and to reignite their challenge for European qualification.

She said “The pressure is on them, we have to be the team that everyone beats and that’s been the case all season. Nobody wants to lose any points to us because that doesn’t look good on them. I’m happy to put that pressure on as much as needed. They have to beat us to have that credibility but also, they need to beat us to get into the top places. Hopefully, the pressure has switched around this week and that serves us well.”

Bristol City’s Barclays Women’s Super League fixture at Manchester United kicks-off at 12pm on Sunday afternoon.