Courtney Sweetman-Kirk has admitted she is relishing the opportunity of facing Aston Villa this Sunday, for the right to earn a place in the quarter-finals of the FA Women’s League Cup.
Coventry City Ladies striker Sweetman-Kirk, has scored twice in the last four matches against Villa – including the winning goal in the Birmingham FA County Cup final last season – and she is hoping for a similar outcome this weekend.
‘’It is the type of game you relish as a player and on derby day, things like form and previous encounters generally tend to go out of the window, but I don’t particularly think it will change how we approach the game.’’
She continued: ‘’playing Villa is always a massive game whether it’s a league match or a League Cup, FA County Cup or FA Cup tie. We will go out to build on the performance against Watford and approach as we do with every other game, and that is with the objective of coming away with three points – or in this case – a win to progress to the next round.’’
The two clubs are certainly no strangers to each other, having met five times in all competitions last season, and this Sunday’s tie will mark the third of at least four games between the clubs in the current campaign. Both teams qualified for the knockout phase with relative ease, especially Coventry, who brushed aside Sporting Club Albion, Leicester City, Derby County and Villa to earn top spot in Group Three.
Sweetman-Kirk was amongst the goalscorers as the Sky Blues recorded a 3-1 victory in the group stage of the FA Women’s League Cup back in October, however in a league fixture between the two sides just a week later, Villa turned the tables by beating City by the same scoreline.
Manager Chris Holloway was similarly wary of the threat carried by the Villans, but ensured that his team would be meticulously prepared in the build-up to the tie.
‘’We will have our ideas and we will also plan accordingly’’ he said. ‘’They are a tough team and I know their staff well, they are great footballing people so we know it’s going to be difficult. We would love to be able to get a couple of players back, but that is increasingly looking unlikely, so we will have to dig deep play our own game and I’m sure the girls will give everything to get us in the next round.’’
Holloway – who took over the reigns in November – also joked: ‘’we will chat about previous games but we seem to play each other around five times a season anyway, so we probably know each other inside out. It’s getting that bad I can see us groundsharing in the future!’’
The FA Women’s League Cup fixture will take place at the Bedworth Oval this Sunday, and will kick at 1pm.