Spurs only focusing on next game insists Vilahamn ahead of Manchester United fixture | OneFootball

Tottenham Hotspur head coach Robert Vilahamn says that his side are not looking beyond this weekend’s fixture against Manchester United at the Leigh Sports Village.

The two sides will contest the Adobe Women’s FA Cup final at Wembley in a little over three weeks’ time but there are three league games to play before that showpiece.

When speaking in the pre-match press conference ahead of this weekend’s match, Spurs boss Vilahamn said that his side are taking things one game at a time and that they are not looking at the Manchester United fixture as a dress rehearsal for Wembley.

“This is a game where we can fight to be fourth this year, so we are only focusing on this game and how to beat Manchester United,” Vilahamn said.

“When we are done with this game, we can use it for the final of course but that game is too far away right now to focus on that.

“The mindset that we have is the next game and how to improve for that. The main thing is to have a good starting XI, a good bench, to have a good game plan and try to beat Manchester United because we want to compete for the top four. It’s hard because there are not many games left but we have a chance and we should go for it.”

Spurs lost the reverse fixture 4-0 back in December. Vilahamn said that he blames himself for that result and he expects his team to show more bravery this weekend.

He said “There’s a big difference [from the last game]. If there’s one game that I’m angry about, it’s the reverse fixture against Manchester United because I went in there in defensive mode. We just went in with a low block and tried to counter attack. We didn’t really give ourselves a chance in that game. Manchester United weren’t great but they won 4-0 and that was because we weren’t brave in that game, that’s on me.

“This time, we need to be brave but also be clever. We need to defend and we need to make sure that we are there to play, so we are prepared for that. We come in with good self-confidence, we’ve won a few games and we have good competition in the squad.

“I have enormous respect for Manchester United and the players that they have, so I know it’ll be a tricky game. We need to go there and do our best then hopefully, we can get a good result. The performance for me is about taking next steps. We can’t just go there and defend, we need to play our style but respect them and go about it the right way.

“There’s a better feeling this time, we are going to be braver, we are going to make sure we are sharper and see how it goes.”

Tottenham Hotspur’s Barclays Women’s Super League fixture against Manchester United kicks-off at 12pm on Sunday afternoon.