Sunderland’s FA Cup motivation about the now says Manchester United boss Skinner | OneFootball

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·29 January 2023

Sunderland’s FA Cup motivation about the now says Manchester United boss Skinner

Article image:Sunderland’s FA Cup motivation about the now says Manchester United boss Skinner

Manchester United head coach Marc Skinner says that he doesn’t expect Vitality Women’s FA Cup fourth round opponents Sunderland to use the licensing controversy of 2018 to help fuel their performance against his side this afternoon.

The Red Devils travel to The Eppleton Colliery Welfare Ground to take on The Lady Black Cats for the very first time in the elite game.

While Manchester United were granted a full-time licence to compete in the elite game following a restructure of the leagues in 2018, Sunderland saw their part-time application rejected and they were demoted to the FA Women’s National League Northern Premier Division. The Wearside club went on to spend three years outside of the elite game before finally being granted a return in summer 2021.


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When speaking to FAWSL Full-Time ahead of this afternoon’s Vitality Women’s FA Cup fourth round tie in the North East, Manchester United boss Skinner said that he does not expect history to provide Sunderland with extra motivation.

“Knowing Mel and the way that her teams work, they won’t need that type of motivation; playing us at their home ground will be enough motivation for them,” Skinner said. “Mel will try and control her controllables.

“We love the narrative around a story to try and build it into something but actually, the reality is when it comes down to it, if that’s the motivation they need, it won’t be one of Mel’s teams. I think she will be focused on what she can do in the game to beat us rather than anything else.”

Sunderland come into the match in good form, Melanie Reay’s side have won four of their last five matches in all competitions. Skinner is expecting to come up against a very well-drilled side this afternoon.

He said “I’ve known Mel (Reay) a long time, we played against her at Birmingham and I always think that her teams are well-coached, driven and purposeful in everything that they do. I am expecting exactly the same.

“They are very good in the structure, they can flip in and out of shape, so you could expect five at the back or four at the back; against different teams, they play different structures.

“We will prepare for both and I am expecting a tough game. They’ll try and keep it tight, make it uncomfortable for us but I’m hoping for us to raise our standards into a level that they can’t achieve.

“I’m expecting a really well-drilled, well-organised team and a team that are very much trying to progress themselves. It’ll be tough but we will focus on the qualities that we have and try and give as much energy as we can.”

Manchester United’s Vitality Women’s FA Cup fourth round tie at Sunderland is scheduled to kick-off at 1pm.

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