Brighton aiming for strong finish against Arsenal says interim boss Harris | OneFootball

Brighton & Hove Albion’s interim head coach Mikey Harris wants his side to give their all when they face Arsenal at Meadow Park on Saturday afternoon.

The Seagulls face The Gunners in their final game of the season. Brighton & Hove Albion could end the campaign as high as eighth place in the Barclays Women’s Super League table.

When speaking to the media ahead of the Arsenal fixture, Brighton & Hove Albion boss Harris said that his side are bidding for a strong end to the campaign despite the difficulty of the challenge ahead.

“We want to finish the season as strongly as we possibly can,” Harris said. “We’ve been working hard this week to try and make sure that we’re in the strongest possible place that we can be going into the game tomorrow.

“We feel like we’ve underachieved as a group, certainly since I’ve been here. We feel like there’s lots of quality in that changing room and in that squad and we want to show that tomorrow.

“I think there’s over 300 travelling up from Brighton, so we’re really grateful for their support. We want to put on a performance for them to end the season positively.

“There was no game last week, so the players are wanting a game, needing a game. We’ve trained really well over the last couple of weeks; I’ve been really impressed with the players’ commitment and their intensity, despite it being the end of the season. We’ve got a really exciting game to look forward to against one of the top teams around.”

Commenting on opponents Arsenal, Harris highlighted the North Londoners’ qualities in possession, although he wants his own side to show what they can do.

He said “It’s a really tough test. They’ve got fantastic players and historically, they’re one of the biggest teams in women’s football.

“They’ve got a cup win under their belt this year, so we know it’s going to be a really tough game but we want to go there and play our football, play with our identity, give it everything and see how we end up.

“Arsenal are very good with the ball, so we’ll have to be very good without it, organised, structured and work very hard from that perspective. I also feel that we’re a good team with the ball as well, so we want to be at our best and show that we can compete with one of the best teams in the league, that’s what we’ll be setting out to do tomorrow.”

Harris went on to reflect on his time as interim head coach, describing it as an incredible and enjoyable learning experience. He also expressed his pride in his players’ determination throughout the season.

He said “It’s been an incredible journey for me personally. I’m hugely grateful to the staff and the players that have made it such an enjoyable period of my life, of my career. I’ll look back really fondly on this time.

“I think overall, we’re disappointed with the results because I don’t feel like they have reflected the work and the performances that the players have put in, but in terms of what we set out to achieve, what we went after from the start of this period of time, I’m relatively pleased with how that’s gone.

“I’m incredibly proud of the players for how they’ve taken onboard that new style and the identity of the football club. It’s not easy to play the way we want to play and to do some of the things that we want to do both with and without the ball.”

Brighton & Hove Albion’s Barclays Women’s Super League fixture at Arsenal kicks-off at 3pm on Saturday afternoon.