‘We’ve really focused on ourselves’ – Liverpool boss Beard looks ahead to FA Cup clash | OneFootball

Liverpool manager Matt Beard says that his side have focused on themselves this week in the lead up to their Adobe Women’s FA Cup fifth round tie at London City Lionesses.

The Reds face The Pride at Princes Park in Dartford this afternoon. London City Lionesses sacked head coach Carolina Morace in midweek and they go into the tie as a bit of an unknown.

When speaking in the pre-match press conference, Liverpool boss Beard admitted that he doesn’t know what to expect from London City Lionesses but his side’s focus has been on themselves.

“There are two things that we need to be aware of; there’s usually a bounce when a manager goes and then she had a certain way of playing, very structured, so that’s all we can plan for really,” Beard said. “It makes our job a bit tougher.

“We’ve just been concentrating on ourselves over the last few weeks, making sure that we improve in areas that we need to improve on. We’ve really focused on ourselves this week and we’ve done a little bit of tactical work around them.”

Despite investing heavily in their squad last summer, London City Lionesses are in a relegation dogfight in the Barclays Women’s Championship. Beard has been surprised by The Pride’s struggles but knows that they have players that can make a difference.

He said “It’s going to be a tough game. Of course, we want to progress but you look at their squad and they have a lot of good, experienced players in their team. It’s a bit of a surprise to see the players that they’ve got in their squad and where they are in the table. Even for them, it’s a welcome distraction from the league campaign. It’s going to be a tough game.”

Liverpool’s Adobe Women’s FA Cup fifth round tie at London City Lionesses kicks-off at 2pm.