Chris Holloway hopes to see a positive performance from his players at Villa Park tonight...
Coventry City Ladies manager Chris Holloway has warned his players to 'stay focused for 90-plus minutes' in order to curb their habit of conceding crucial late goals, ahead of Tuesday’s trip to Aston Villa.
Despite their form picking up recently, Coventry City Ladies have dropped several points in the latter moments of matches this season, including conceding a late goal in Sunday’s 2-1 home defeat to Leeds United.
The City Ladies boss said: "We have to pick ourselves up after the defeat against Leeds. To play at Villa Park will be even harder on the legs, but fingers crossed that the girls recover well.
"Villa are a fantastic team who have quality in all areas, and they have an excellent management team who I have the utmost respect for. But the fact is that there are a big three points up for grabs and we need to be focused for 90-plus minutes to get them."
Coventry’s four game unbeaten run came to an end against the Yorkshire side, which included three league wins on the bounce against Charlton Athletic, Barnet and Cardiff City, as well as a penalty shootout victory against Sporting Club Albion, to retain the Birmingham FA County Cup.
Courtney Sweetman-Kirk netted four goals in that run, and Holloway reserved special praise for the striker who has notched 18 goals in all competitions this season.
Holloway continued: "I think it speaks volumes that she has scored that many. It's been tough as I have said many times with injuries and swapping personnel around. She has had to play in three or four different positions and not only her performances, but her attitude and effort has been first class."
This will be the fifth meeting between the two teams this season, with both teams sharing two wins apiece thus far. Like Coventry, Villa also have silverware to their name this season, having defeated Leeds United on penalties at the start of the month to clinch the FA Women’s Premier League Cup.
The Sky Blues know that victory will take them to fifth position in the FA Women’s Premier League, with just one game remaining against Portsmouth later this month.
The fixture will be free entry to all supporters at Villa Park, and will kick off at 7pm.