Sunderland Women Head Coach Mel Reay previewed Sunday’s encounter at Eppleton against Sheffield United Women (KO 12pm).
The Lasses secured a huge 3-0 win last weekend against Coventry, with Reay highlighting the importance of “bridging the gap” between the bottom of the table.
“We were delighted to get the three points on the board,” Reay said.
“It was an important fixture to bridge the gap between ourselves and them, but we certainly want to use it as confidence to push on for the remaining six games of the season.”
The Lasses have kept three clean sheets this season in the league - winning all three games – and the Head coach emphasised the importance of that statistic.
“It’s been a long time coming.
“It’s something that we want to achieve every game and we’ve been unlucky in certain games where it’s been really close but to get that clean sheet, three goals and the three points was a big moment for us.”
So far in 2023, nine players have contributed goals in all competitions, a huge positive for both the team and the coaching staff moving forward.
“The teams got targets in terms of goal scorers and each unit needs to contribute a certain amount for us to be a success, so we’re delighted that everyone’s chipping in.
“I think it makes it harder for the opposition when they know there’s a threat coming from different positions on the pitch.”
Sheffield United appointed new boss Jonathan Morgan last month, with the new head coach set to take charge of his second Blades game, with Reay discussing the impact of a new manager as well as the threats of the opponent.
“When a new manager comes in, they want to have an impact and players will raise their game in order to get picked for that game that week, so we’ll look after ourselves and carry on what we’ve been doing really well.
“We’ll have a look at Sheffield’s threats and see how we can eliminate them.
“We’ve got four remaining home fixtures and we obviously want to make Hetton a difficult place for the opponent to come.
“It’s a rallying cry to get the fans out in their numbers and bring the noise.”