AFC Bournemouth host Real Bedford today in the first of two games in hand they have over the two sides above them in the National League Southern Premier Division.
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While they can’t chase down league champions Watford, they can overhaul Plymouth Argyle for a spot in the playoff to reach the WSL2.
They trail Argyle by six points and on goal difference, but they’ll be hoping for a big win today in front of a bumper Vitality Stadium crowd and next week at Lewes to put themselves in the driving seat for second.
AFC Bournemouth (Image: Richard Crease)
Asked if she’d rather be the side with the points on the board or the one doing the chasing, Bleazard told the Daily Echo: “It's one of those, it's up to us on what we want to do.
“Would it be nice to not have as many games? Obviously we've had such a fantastic cup run with the League Cup and the FA Cup, and we've had games postponed that we'd have loved to have had some breaks.
“Obviously it's natural, you want to have some breaks for the players, but the success that we've had this season has actually meant that we haven't had that.
Helen Bleazard (Image: Richard Crease)
“But it's a credit to the girls in terms of their fitness and their recovery and to make sure that they're ready.
“I have no doubt that, yes, we have three games and some have one, but we're ready for it. And that momentum that we can keep building, will hopefully bring us through the next three.”
She continued: “We only focus on week by week, but every game is different.
“It's not only the fact we're playing Real Bedford, who are a really, really good team, but the Vitality is that occasion, but also it's our last home game of the season.
More than 5,800 fans packed into Dean Court on Wednesday (Image: Richard Crease)
“So there's lots of different factors that play into it, but we put our focus into that one and then Monday morning comes and then we go straight on to Lewes and then the following Monday morning we go straight on to Watford.
“So we're aware that we have a lot of games, we have the most games than every other team.
“I think some teams don't have a game now until the last game of the season, so they've got a few weeks off, whereas I think sometimes, as much as it's been a really long season with the cup runs we've had, it's nice to just go back to back to back, so you haven't got to have that break in and have too long a wait.
“Whether it's a good or a bad result, you park it and go straight on to the next one. I think that keeps the girls excited.”