Dan O’Hearne: Everyone is itching to get back playing | OneFootball

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Leeds United

·23 July 2021

Dan O’Hearne: Everyone is itching to get back playing

Article image:Dan O’Hearne: Everyone is itching to get back playing

Manager on pre-season preparations.

Leeds United Women’s manager, Dan O’Hearne is looking forward to competitive matches getting back under way for his side.


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The manager spoke to the media about the challenges of having back-to-back cancellations on the teams league season, the new summer signings and how pre-season is going so far.

O’Hearne said: “We’ve had two years now where the league has been cancelled so everyone is itching to get back playing.

“We can’t wait to get going, we’ve been back in pre-season for seven weeks now and had a couple of pre-season games.

“Now the league fixtures have come out and we have Stockport at home, we’re looking forward to that.”

The manager also spoke about the challenges that lockdown brought and how the players adapted.

He said: “We had the girls on a fitness plan and one of them, Abbie Brown is a fitness instructor, so she was doing online zoom fitness classes.

“The classes kept their spirits up and they’ve come back in good shape ready for the season.

“The new players have been a breath of fresh air, all the existing girls have welcomed them and they’ve slotted in like they’ve been here years.

“They are all really good characters and I’m pleased to have them at the club.

“There should definitely be another one or two signings coming in but that’s not confirmed as we’re still working on it.”

The Whites have had two friendlies so far and O’Hearne has reflected on them.

He said: “The first game was against Derby County who are in the league above, they were 2-0 up at half time but we came back, and we were leading 4-3 going into injury time, before they equalised with the last kick of the game.

“I was really impressed with that performance.

“The next game we beat Wakefield 8-0, who are in the league below us, but the main thing is getting minutes in players legs at the minute.

“We changed formation a couple of times on Sunday but most importantly it’s about giving the girls game time and getting everybody involved.

“We are making progress but ultimately there comes a time where we need to start getting up the leagues.

“You know the size of the club, there’s a lot of pressure so I try take the pressure away from the girls, for me it’s just about winning the next game.

“Of course we want promotion and it’d be nice to get to the League Cup final too and maybe an FA Cup run if I’m being greedy.”

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