AFC Bournemouth host Real Bedford and will be hoping for a big win to close the gap on Plymouth Argyle, with the Devon side now only having one game left of their campaign.
Helen Bleazard’s side have three, and trail Argyle by six points, meaning they must win both to get back on terms with Plymouth.
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The Cherries boss has talked of their final three games as ‘cup finals’, and holding the final home game of the season at Dean Court amplifies that.
Helen Bleazard. (Image: Richard Crease)
Bleazard told the Daily Echo that it will be a big occasion: “We know Real Bedford are really excited for it as well, which is great.
“We always talk about the Vitality and the magic that comes with that and obviously with it being in a stadium and the amount of tickets we've sold and hopefully will sell, it speaks for itself really, we don't have to really jazz it up.
“It's a fantastic occasion for the girls and I think it's going to be a great game of football with two really, really good teams in tier three. And yeah, hopefully we come out the right side of it.”
Bedford have had a solid season in the third tier, too, and currently sit seventh with 26 points from their 19 games.
Bleazard knows they pose a tough test, after they beat them 4-1 away from home back in March.
Helen Bleazard (Image: Newsquest)
“They got promoted at the same time as us, I think people forget that,” she said.
“They've had a fantastic season, and credit to them. And I really enjoyed the game that we played against them.
“They're quite similar to us in terms of their pressing mentality, and we got picked off a little bit on that, so we had to reflect and learn from that on how we wanted to tweak our game, but also what they do could then help us in terms of our transition and how we want to play.
“It was a really good game of football, and I think it's going to be a really, really good game on Sunday of two attacking teams that want to dominate the ball and cause a bit of chaos.”
AFC Bournemouth host Real Bedford on Sunday, April 12, kick off at 2pm.