Notts County can put themselves in pole position to qualify for The FA WSL Continental Tyres Cup quarter finals this week and keeper Carly Telford admits she is keen to steal a march on their rivals.
The Lady Pies currently sit third in Group Three but a win against Oxford United on Wednesday will see them move three points clear at the top.
For County, who lost to Chelsea in the SSE Women’s FA Cup Final at Wembley Stadium earlier this month, the game at Abingdon United is the beginning of a hectic schedule of fixtures which will see them play four games in 11 days.
Oxford United v Notts County
FA WSL Continental Tyres Cup
Group Three
7.45pm, Wednesday 19 August
at Abingdon United FC
by Aaron Fowler
And England international Telford says Notts need to make the most of every game.
“We’ve got a lot of fixtures coming up so it’s a big time for the club,” said the 28-year-old. “It’s tough with that kind of schedule but it’s exciting as well as challenging.
“This time last year we struggled with the amount of games and didn’t have the strength in depth to cope.
“But this season, barring a couple of knocks, everyone is fresh and our squad depth is brilliant – you can see that with having both me and Siobhan Chamberlain to pick from and we’ve got players who can perform in different positions.
”Hopefully we can be right in amongst it in the Continental Tyres Cup.”
With four teams in Group Three currently locked on six points, the race to make the knockout stages looks set to go down to the wire.
However, Oxford appear unlikely to make a charge, having lost their opening two games, against Yeovil and Birmingham City.
Yet U’s keeper Demi Lambourne admits the thought of going up against the likes of experienced counterpart Telford is enough to whet the appetite.
Oxford goalkeeper Demi Lambourne in action against Watford
“It’s going to be a massive game and a big experience as they’ve got a lot of great players and obviously play in FA WSL 1,” said Lambourne.
“We know with all the international players in their team it’s going to be a very tough game as it was last year in the Continental Tyres Cup when we lost 4-0.
“Some good performances in this competition could help our league campaign but mainly for us it’s just about looking back at our recent games, learning from them and making sure we don’t make the same mistakes in the league.
“We’ve had a good few results this year so it’s just about keeping that going and taking every game as it comes and remaining positive.”
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