After securing Champions League qualification in the penultimate game of the season against Man City, this Sunday will be a chance for Manchester United to building momentum.
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Ella Toone and her Manchester United teammates celebrate
Ella Toone and her Manchester United teammates celebrate
While the WSL season may be over, Manchester United have one final hurdle to jump in another historic season and one last chance for silverware - the Women’s FA Cup final.
Marc Skinner’s side will be looking to retain their crown when they take on Chelsea on Sunday at Wembley, but it will be the threat of a treble for Sonia Bompastor’s side that’s standing in the Reds’ way.
After securing Champions League qualification in the penultimate game of the season against Manchester City, this Sunday will be a chance for United to keep building momentum.
However, they will be without one of their key playmakers as Skinner ruled out full-back Jayde Riviere after experiencing “irritation in her ankle” since suffering a knock in the first half of the Old Trafford derby earlier this month.
Previewing the game, Marc Skinner admitted this weekend’s huge occasion is more of an event than a game, but at the same time, it’s ‘just a game’.
He said: “It’s a one-off event, I don’t even call them games, this is an event. You go in there, and you have to put your best performance on the line and you know the opponent will try and do the same. It’s one of the toughest tasks in football but we’re Man United.
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“What we do as a team and what our players do, we can create history and so that’s what we’re going to aim to do again but the reality for us it’s a normal game, i’ll treat it the exact same as any other game and we’ll be ready to go into Chelsea this weekend.”
Despite not being in action since United’s away draw with West Ham on 19 April, Skinner confirmed stalwart Rachel Williams will be back for weekend, while Aoife Mannion, who was suspended for the last game at Arsenal, is available again.
Chelsea will be without long-term absentees Brooke Aspin, Sophie Ingle, Jorja Fox and Lauren James.
Mayra Ramirez has been recovering from a knee injury and could return, and the same is true for Sam Kerr, with boss Bompastor fielding questions about her return for some weeks.
On the ‘magic’ of the possibility of lifting the FA Cup for the second year in a row, Skinner admits it comes after an incredible amount of hard work.
He added: “Yeah it will be [magical], and it’s going to come after a hell of a lot of work. I’m a realist so when we go into this game you have to take every detail as it comes, and live with no regrets and if we do that, we know we can beat any team.
“We’re playing against the hardest team in the country, because they’re unbeaten in the WSL season but this isn’t the WSL and this is the FA Cup. It’s our cup. And we have to go into this game with full motivation and full focus and try and do what somebody hasn’t been able to achieve domestically this year, and that’s a great challenge for us. Something we’re looking forward to.”
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