Carla Ward takes her Aston Villa side to Manchester United in the Barclays WSL on Sunday afternoon.
And ahead of the league clash, the manager spoke to the media from Bodymoor Heath.
Here's what she had to say...
On the events of Wednesday...
“First and foremost, we understand that we’ve made a horrible mistake. There’s been some internal conversations and investigations on how it’s happened. We’ve got to take a collective responsibility. We have to ensure that the right processes are in place so this doesn’t happen again.”
On this weekend's game...
“It’s a really big game. We’re going into it in good form. We’ve won four of our last six WSL games, that’s good form. We’ve been excellent in some of those games. We know Leigh Sports Village is a tricky place, the fans are unbelievable. It’s going to be tough, but we’ve got a lot of quality in our side and so have they. I imagine it’ll be a good game of football, but it’s another opportunity to test ourselves against one of the best in the country.”
On closing the gap to the top four...
“I alluded to this when we had a bad run, but it’s important to pick up points in this division because things can change very quickly. It’s in our hands now to continue with those targets that we set out earlier on in pre-season. If we win on Sunday, we’re three points behind [Manchester United]. If we did that, we’d be in a pretty good position.”
On Ebony Salmon...
“Ebony’s a top, young talent and is somebody I know well. When you come from the NWSL to the WSL it’s a different game. You have to bed into, not only the league, but the way we play as well. She’s got a clear focus now, but she’s contributing when she’s coming off the bench. It’s just about taking her chance when she gets it. Ebony is a strong player with a lot of attributes that can change games.”
