‘They’ll be a difficult team to contend with’ – Manchester United a big test for Spurs says Skinner | OneFootball

Tottenham Hotspur head coach Rehanne Skinner is expecting nothing less than a huge challenge when her side travel to The Leigh Sports Village to face Manchester United tomorrow.

Spurs surrendered third place to The Red Devils last weekend, a side who are flying under the guidance of new head coach Marc Skinner.

After dropping to fourth, the incentive for Spurs is to now claim the final European qualification place back from Manchester United, however, that is by no means an easy task.

“It is obviously going to be a tough test,” Spurs boss Skinner said when speaking in her pre-match press conference. “It was tough when we met them first time around and Marc has had longer with the squad so they are starting to play in a way that he wants them to play. They’ve been a goal threat and they’ll be a difficult team to contend with.

“For us, it is just really important to carry on the things that we have done and we give a performance that makes it as difficult as possible for them. We need to focus on what we need to do but it’s a tough test that’s for sure.”

Spurs qualified for the semi-finals of the FA Women’s Continental League Cup in midweek after beating Liverpool 1-0 at The Hive. Skinner went on to say that the players are well-equipped to deal with the physical and mental strains of having big games in quick succession.

She said “We’ve had a bit of experience of it, we had a similar situation last season but we are in a very different place with how we approach games, the way that we prepare the players for three-game weeks, that side of it has definitely evolved this season. It is not the first three-game week that we’ve had and it’s not the first Conti Cup game that we’ve had to get through in midweek.

“We are in a place where we have had a little bit more experience under our belts to go into it with a bit more awareness of what that is going to take on Sunday. Fundamentally, the thing has been about our consistent mentality to do certain parts the same every game and that’s about being hardworking, preparing professionally and behaviours, things that you prepare for every single game. Those things are very consistent in our team now which enables us to go into every game in the best possible mental shape.

“It can be tough if you have had a couple of difficult games in the week. The start of the week wasn’t ideal with the West Ham game but I was really pleased with the response on Wednesday night and now that we have got that win under our belts, I think that has helped us again going into this game.”

Tottenham Hotspur’s Barclays FA Women’s Super League fixture at Manchester United kicks-off at 12pm tomorrow.