Despite a heavy defeat last time out, London Bees are looking to show what they are capable of when they take on Arsenal in The FA WSL Continental Cup, according to Chontele Lawrence.
The visit of Reading to The Hive for their last Cup fixture saw the Bees beaten 8-1 after a clinical second-half performance and Lawrence wants them to bounce back in style.
A trip to FA WSL 1 outfit Arsenal, currently in the midst of a three-match winning streak, will prove a stern test for the Bees, who now haven’t won in eight.
Arsenal v London Bees
FA WSL Continental Cup
Group One
7.45pm, Thursday 10 July 2014
Meadow Park, Boreham Wood FC
But the 19-year-old believes the size of the task in hand against the two-time FA WSL champions, is the perfect opportunity for the Bees to show what they can do against top-class opposition
Lawrence said: “We’ll just go out there and do as well as we can. It’s a new format and we want to show everyone what we can do and so far I don’t think we’ve shown our potential.
“Everyone wants to be in the highest League so getting to play against the likes of Arsenal and Chelsea [in The Cup] gives us a great taste of what FA WSL 1 is like.”
While London Bees head into the match on the back of a loss, Arsenal are full of confidence after a 1-0 League win over Liverpool was followed by a 3-0 victory over Chelsea in the Continental Cup.
Prior to that they lifted The FA Women's Cup with defeat of Everton and captain Kelly Smith believes that, following a mixed start to the season, they are finding their feet and playing their best
England's record goalscorer said: “The wins after the break in June have been big for us especially considering the calibre of opposition we have been playing against.
“We want to carry that forward now and make sure all of the squad are playing at the same level. Obviously we want to play well in the competition but we will also use the game to rotate the squad a little bit.
“We do have a smaller squad this year compared to previous years so there will be players who haven’t had a lot of game time who will be in for a shout of a start.
“We’re looking for the Cup games to help us build some momentum for when we get back into the swing of things in the League.”
