Should the Belles beat Everton on Thursday and Yeovil draw or lose their next game, Glen Harris’ side will have secured one of the top two spots required for promotion into FA Women’s Super League with BT Sport 1 providing they meet off-field license requirements.
But just as importantly there is silverware in their sights, with the Belles two points ahead of Reading in top spot with four games to go.
Doncaster Rovers Belles v Everton
FA WSL 2
7.45pm, Thursday 10 September 2015
The Keepmoat Stadium
The margin between both sides could have been greater if not for a late equaliser from Reading’s Bianca Bragg last weekend, and Sweetman-Kirk has urged her side to reach for top gear against Everton.
“We can secure promotion, but if we do it now or any time before the end of the season it will be more than welcome,” said Sweetman-Kirk, who scored a hat-trick as her side came from behind to beat Everton 3-2 in the FA WSL Continental Tyres Cup last month.
“But I speak for the rest of the girls and the staff at Donny in saying that we want to go up as champions and that is our No.1 aim.
“The cup game against Everton wasn’t that long ago so we’ll get a lot of confidence from that, but anyone in the league can take points off each other so we can’t get complacent either.
“Everton have a lot of young, talented players and after that cup game I imagine they will want to come out with a point to prove. So we’ve definitely got to be on our guard for that and take nothing for granted.”
Everton are arguably the form team in the entirety of WSL 2, having won four matches on the bounce before their run came to a halt due to a last-gasp leveller from Aston Villa last weekend.
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Catching either Doncaster or Reading remains a tough task, though the fourth-place Toffees do have two games in hand on the teams above them.
And skipper Michelle Hinnigan says the fact that they let a two-goal lead slip over the Belles in the Continental Tyres Cup only gives them added incentive to go for victory.
“In the league our confidence is really high, we have been winning games for a while now which is really good,” said Hinnigan.
“In the cup we may have lost a few games but the scores do not really reflect how we played against teams from the league above us. We have done well in those games.
“Doncaster have been very impressive this season, they have been very clinical scoring goals and taking chances.
“We should have come away with the win when we played them the first time in the league and in the cup that scoreline does not reflect the game.
“We were 2-0 up and switched off in the second half, we took our foot off the pedal and they punished us.
“This is a massive game for us, with Reading after that as well, we know that if we can win both of those games then we are right in it.”
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