League Cup tie another big growth moment for Manchester United says Skinner | OneFootball

Manchester United head coach Marc Skinner says that this evening’s Subway Women’s League Cup quarter-final tie against Manchester City can be another big growth moment for his side.

The Red Devils play host to The Cityzens at the Leigh Sports Village just three days on from their 4-2 victory at the Etihad Stadium in a Barclays Women’s Super League fixture.

When speaking in the pre-match press conference, Manchester United boss Skinner did not want to comment on whether his side now hold a psychological edge over their neighbours but he did say that this evening’s game will provide another big growth moment for the team.

“It can work both ways,” Skinner said when discussing the psychological impact of the result at the weekend. “Manchester City will be fired up for this game, of course, because they’ve just lost the league game.

“I expect it to be a great learning for us. I spoke before the game about this being a younger group that hasn’t experienced this type of [occasion]. Two years ago, that team had experienced big stadium games and winning there.

“I think it’s a big growth moment and even this game can be a big growth moment. Can we be as aggressive? Can we take it to Manchester City? Only then after those moments can we talk about having a psychological edge. I want us to have that but I want us to put that into practice, that’s going to be our focus.”

While Manchester United were victorious at the Etihad Stadium, Skinner still felt that his side could have defended better for the goals that they conceded. He hopes to see his side make some minor adjustments in their defensive play this evening.

He said “Trying to stop crosses is really important. Manchester City are really good; there’s a lot of overlapping, underlapping and rotations from the tens in the pocket. Again, it’s about tidying up that detail when we know it’s coming.

“In all honesty, the first goal was very preventable from our perspective. I think we are in the right positions but we just need to be aggressive, so I think we can tidy that up. To concede from a set-piece when we are usually very good at them was disappointing too.

“It’s about little details; stopping those crosses, trying to be effective there. I’m expecting Manchester City to bring that energy, so we have to match it and go above it if we want to win this game as well.”

If Manchester United are to win this season’s Subway Women’s League Cup, they will probably have to beat all of their Barclays Women’s Super League title rivals and Skinner knows that this is a huge ask.

He said “It’s the first time that we’ve been in the quarter-finals for a couple of years. We’ve got a tough run should we beat Manchester City who is obviously a real tough opponent. You then play the winners of the Brighton and Arsenal game and potentially, Chelsea if they make it all of the way through. You could play the big three if you get all of the way yourself.

“We will focus on this game and we are in to try and win it. We are three games away from doing that but we also know that we have a really compact schedule and so the rotation has to be timed. We have to try and get that right and that’ll be a detail of success within the game.”

Manchester United’s Subway Women’s League Cup quarter-final tie against Manchester City kicks-off at 7pm this evening.