‘Some of that pressure has been lifted’ – Everton boss Kirk previews trip to Reading | OneFootball

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·1 October 2021

‘Some of that pressure has been lifted’ – Everton boss Kirk previews trip to Reading

Article image:‘Some of that pressure has been lifted’ – Everton boss Kirk previews trip to Reading

Everton manager Willie Kirk says that some of the pressure has been lifted off his players after last weekend’s 3-1 victory over Birmingham City in the Barclays FA Women’s Super League.

The Blue Girls spent heavily over the summer but suffered a difficult start to the new campaign with heavy back-to-back defeats against Manchester City and Chelsea.

Everton finally got points on the board after putting in a really good performance against Birmingham City at Walton Hall Park last weekend and that victory has done a lot for the players’ confidence according to manager Kirk.


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“The mood has always been good, it has always been positive,” Kirk said. “What has changed is that the players are not quite as uptight, they’re playing with a bit more freedom.

“Training has been really good, really good intensity, moving the ball about at a really good speed and you can see that some of that pressure has been lifted. They are still putting pressure on themselves in terms of the next result but you can definitely see a notable change in body language.”

After beating Birmingham City, Everton’s next test is a trip to the Select Car Leasing Stadium to take on a Reading side who are yet to collect points this season. Despite Reading’s losing start, Kirk is expecting The Royals to provide his side with a difficult test.

He said “Both teams will be disappointed with their totals at this stage. We wanted more than three points from our first three games and Reading certainly wanted more than zero from their first three. This is a big chance for them, every game is going to be a big chance for them to get their first points until they get them.

“We know what we will be up against, I think their summer recruitment has been really clever, it has been really good. I think the signings of Gemma Evans, Deanne Rose, Natasha Dowie, real quality players who without a doubt strengthen the areas of the pitch that they needed to strengthen.

“We’ve analysed them well, we have presented that to the players so they’ll know what they’re up against and just because they’re sitting in the bottom three with zero points doesn’t mean that we are going to take them lightly. We failed to beat them last year, we drew both games, we want to make sure that we take maximum points on Sunday.”

Everton’s Barclays FA Women’s Super League fixture against Reading at the Select Car Leasing Stadium kicks-off at 2pm on Sunday afternoon.

Source: Everton TV

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