Aston Villa the ‘pure focus’ for Liverpool says manager Beard | OneFootball

Liverpool manager Matt Beard says that he is not looking beyond this afternoon’s Barclays Women’s Super League fixture at Aston Villa.

The Reds are enjoying a fine season under Beard’s leadership and a fourth-place finish is very much a possibility.

This month’s fixtures provide Liverpool with a good opportunity to continue their progress, however, manager Beard says that the club are taking things one game at a time.

“We only look at the next game,” Beard said when speaking in the pre-match press conference. “We’ve got Aston Villa this weekend and that’s our pure focus. Once that’s out of the way, we will look at the next one.

“We’ve done well this year and it’s about continuing to make sure that we pick up points.”

Like Beard, Aston Villa boss Carla Ward has impressed with her work at her club. Beard went on to praise his opposite number ahead of this afternoon’s clash.

He said “Carla has done a great job ever since she’s been there. If you look at the start of the season, they had a lot of key personnel missing which is going to have an effect on anyone. If you look at Manchester City a couple of years ago and the start that they made with a number of players out injured, it does have a big impact.

“They’ve got Rachel Daly missing this weekend through suspension and Adriana Leon, a player I know really well, so that’s a big positive for us.

“Carla has done a fantastic job. I always knew they’d be comfortable, you only have to look at the players they’ve got in their team. It was just a matter of time really.”

Liverpool’s Barclays Women’s Super League fixture at Aston Villa kicks-off at 2pm.