Argyle Women’s Assistant Coach Matt Green believes a week of regrouping, conversations and preparations will place the team in good stead ahead of Sunday’s FA Women’s National League Cup preliminary round clash with London Bees.
Following a 4-2 victory in the determining round of the competition against Bridgwater United, the match at Home Park holds a different level of importance compared to the league matchups seen at the Theatre of Greens this season.
Green admits that conversations have taken place after a tough defeat to Hashtag United at home, but a positive approach has been placed in training sessions from the squad.
“[We’re] feeling really good,” Green told Argyle TV. “Sunday's game was disappointing for many reasons, but we've regrouped. As staff, we've had conversations about what didn't happen on Sunday, and we’ve looked to address that during this week, which we've started to do.
“We're just looking to bounce back with a positive performance against a team we know well from the last few years.
“We’ve got a very similar squad; it's what we had last year but with a few additions. You always take positives from wins in previous years, but they're going through a rebuild phase. A lot of their staff and players are completely different to what we faced. They want to come to Home Park and put on a good display. We've got to match that and up our levels, like we said before.”
Against Hashtag United, all goals conceded were directly or indirectly from set-pieces, an area head coach Ryan Perks said afterwards that his team need to sharpen up on.
Prior to that game, a tweaked Argyle side scored four against Bridgwater at Coach Road, but preparations and improvement have been a key focus during the week, meaning that a win is a key focus for the staff and players.
Green said: “Ideally, we want to rotate the squad. We're aware that looking back on last week, it wasn't where we wanted it to be. We need to regain that confidence in the squad, but there will be some changes.
“We want to win this game. It's an important game, to get confidence and then take that back into the league campaign the following week against Billericay.
“Regarding the set-pieces on Sunday, Ryan referred to it, post-match, that it wasn't good enough. That’s an area that we've looked to improve on this week and can't really go into too many details, obviously, but fundamentally, it’s just getting the squad back to play the way we expect from them.
“The detail we give them before games is key, as is trying to execute that in the games. We showed it in the first 10-15 minutes last Sunday but, after that, we came away from what the game plan was and got punished. Back to basics this week, looking at those set plays and what we want them to do.”
Despite the result last weekend, Matt highlighted the support of the Green Army and the importance of performing for those coming along and getting behind the girls.
“Home Park is fantastic,” Green said. “The stadium's great, the supporters get behind you win, lose or draw, and they keep coming back, which is fantastic. There is no better place to play in the area, to be honest. The pitch is like a carpet, a bowling green. It's a fantastic facility and is great for the girls and for us the staff.
“We want to perform for the supporters that are coming to watch. We did that in spells on Sunday. We want to do that more often and put the complete performance together, not just for 10–15-minute spells. It needs to be over 90 minutes.
“That is hard. It's a big pitch at Home Park, but we need confidence in our play. It's all about getting that performance right and putting on a performance that the fans can be pleased with and go away talking about the women's team.”
The game takes place at Home Park at 2pm on Sunday, 15 September. Tickets for our upcoming FA Women’s National League Cup fixture against London Bees will be free for all season-ticket holders, of both the men’s and women’s teams.
Click here for more details.
