Nikita Parris urges teammates to step up ahead of clash with Manchester City | OneFootball

Nikita Parris has called on her teammates to step up ahead of the Manchester Derby tomorrow.

Manchester United are 12 points adrift of City, who are pushing Chelsea for the WSL title this year.

United’s season has been nothing short of disappointing so far as they sit in fourth, level on points with Liverpool and six points behind Arsenal in third place.

Parris told BBC Sport: “As a team, we need to step up and grow.

“All our games have been competitive but in big moments we’ve lacked experience and it’s cost us.”

Last season, United had their best season to date, pushing Chelsea to the final game in the title race and reaching the FA Cup final.

They qualified for the Champions League for the first time ever but crashed out of that competition after the second qualifying round when they were beaten by PSG last October.

“We were competing last year. This year we haven’t maintained those high standards,” Parris said.

“That’s where we need to push forward as a team. It won’t happen overnight but that’s our aim.

“We’re definitely not where we want to be. The reality is we need points to go on our side and games out of our control to go our way. We have to take care of business and, in all honesty, we haven’t, especially in the big games.”

United could still salvage something from this season as they take on Chelsea in the FA Cup semi final next month.

As for the league, United will have to hope Arsenal drop points and they can make the most of their remaining fixtures for a chance to qualify for next season’s Champions League.