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Cherries visit Baggies for rearranged National League Cup semifinal

Former Plymouth player Georgia Wilson is eyeing up a reunion with her hometown club in the final of the competition.

But first they must get past the Baggies, who are midtable in the equivalent northern league to the Cherries at tier three.

They beat Wolves 1-0 to reach the final four, while Bournemouth defeated Swindon 3-0 in the quarterfinals.

The Cherries are unbeaten in the league so far and have lost just once this term in all competitions, to WSL leaders Manchester City in the FA Cup.

Previewing the trip to Rugby Borough to meet West Brom, Wilson told the Daily Echo: “I know they're going to be a tough team.

“We played them in preseason, they gave us a good game, we did beat them [3-0] but you know, preseason is very different and they've had time to progress.

“I know they beat Wolves, I think it was 1-0, so Wolves are a very good team so they show they can compete at a high level. So yeah, it's going to be a tough game but we've got an extra week now to prepare going into it.”

Georgia Wilson (Image: Richard Crease)

The Cherries will have an extra week to dissect the Baggies’ game and prepare after the postponement, and Wilson said they had prepared well, although she admitted the squad was a little gutted to see the game called off.

While their focus is firmly on West Brom, they do also take into consideration their final opponents.

“If I'm honest, that's the final I'd want to play against them as much as my home team club and I loved being there but you want to win the final,” Wilson said.

“They're a good team as well but I think we can win it. But yeah, they're a very different team from when I was there.

“They’ve brought in whole new players, I think a pretty much a whole new squad and a new manager. So they play very differently.

“But yeah, they're going to be a tough, tough team to beat as well.”

Teammate Phoebe Williams is also expecting a tough test when they visit the Baggies – and she has experience of winning the cup twice, once with Southampton and one with Hashtag United.

Phoebe Williams (Image: Richard Crease)

“So I've been quite fortunate because I won it with Southampton and then I won it with Hashtag as well,” she told the Daily Echo.

“But we just take each game as it comes. So, to be honest with you, we didn't think that far ahead.

“We just focused on Swindon and played that game. But like I mentioned previous, it'll be a great test to see how we fare against a northern side.

“But I have no doubt that if we play our football and we take in what we do in training into the game, then hopefully we'll come away with the win and get ourselves through to the final.”

She continued: “We played them in preseason, actually, and I think we beat them 3-0. But obviously a lot can change from preseason.

“I know they've got some very strong players and I think they'll be well organised, so it should be a good test.”

AFC Bournemouth travel to West Brom on Sunday, February 8, kick off at Rugby Borough at 3pm.

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