Coventry City Ladies boss Craig Nicholls believes that “sticking to your principles” will hold his side in good stead against league leaders Gillingham this Sunday.
The Gills have netted 15 goals in their five FA Women's Premier League Southern Division games this season, as well as a further seven in their sole FA Women’s League Cup match against Tottenham Hotspur.
“Gillingham have obviously started the season well and are scoring a lot of goals,” admitted Nicholls. “We however, have the best defensive record in the league so it could be a very tight game. We will try and play our way as I always believe you have to stick to your principles.”
Sunday’s tie promises to be an intriguing tussle, with the Sky Blues boasting three clean sheets from their five competitive games this season, whilst Gillingham’s striking duo Charlotte Gurr and Danielle Carlton have found the net 11 times with the season just over a month old.
Gurr is currently leading the league’s goalscoring charts with seven, but Nicholls firmly believes he has the players to cope with the attacking threat of the former Arsenal and Chelsea forward.
“Anyone who has scored that many goals is obviously a danger,” he stated. “But I feel we can compete against any player and team if we are all focused on our jobs and responsibilities.”
The recently appointed manager was speaking after seeing his side ease to a resounding 3-0 victory over then-second placed Tottenham Hotspur at Wodson Park, to lift the Sky Blues into third place in the table.
Goals from Nicole Dale, Kim Walton and captain Natasha Lynch ensured victory and inflicted the first defeat of the season for Spurs, leaving Gillingham as the only unbeaten team left in the FA Women's Premier League Southern Division.
This has subsequently left Nicholls with a selection headache leading up to Sunday’s tie.
“I have 18 or 19 players pushing for 16 squad places. It's unfortunate for the players who miss out but competition for places is such a massive part of building a better and more determined side.”
Meanwhile Dale, who netted her first goal of the season in the win, believes that the team is understandably still finding their feet, and that there will be more to come over the coming weeks.
“It always takes time for new management to analyse the players and develop the strategies to make the team successful,” admitted the winger. “We look like a unit that's adapting quickly to any changes and with goals coming from all over the team I do believe there's still a lot more to come from us.”
Victory over the Londoners could take Coventry into second place, and cut the gap at the top of the league to just three points. The match will take place on Sunday 6th September at the Bedworth Oval, and will kick-off at 2pm.