The old gold come into the game in strong form and are sitting second in the table, having started the campaign with five wins from seven. McNamara’s side grabbed a late winner on Sunday afternoon to return to winning ways at home to Boldmere St Michaels, and the boss knows exactly what it would mean to the Wolves supporters to get the better of their arch-rivals.
On the importance of the Black Country derby
“It’s one that we circle in the diary every year, it’s the one that we look forward to and I think the way this city unites in football is really important.
“Heading into a Black Country derby, we know the importance of it. People will be wanting the bragging rights across the Midlands and hopefully we can give it to them come Wednesday night.
“It was probably about three games in, my first experience of one. I was told in no uncertain terms that you don’t lose Black Country derbies – it doesn’t matter if it’s the under-7s or senior level.
“Thankfully over the last few years I’ve been on the good side of quite a few great fixtures.”
It's Black Country derby eve! 🎟😆
— Wolves Women FC (@WolvesWomen) October 11, 2022
On the type of game to expect
“It’ll be tough on Wednesday. We’re coming up against a good side and Jenny’s (Sugarman) got them playing some good football and we know how difficult it’ll be.
“We’re going into the game confident and we’re confident we can get the points required. We know what it means to the city and ultimately, we want to put smiles on faces, so hopefully we can do that on Wednesday.
“Everybody knows it’s going to be an intense night and the tempo of the play will probably be dictated by the players on the pitch because of how they deal with the occasion.
“We’ve just got to treat it as any normal fixture. We don’t want to be running out of steam too early because of the intensity we’re trying to play the game at.
“Over the last few years, the fixtures have gone my way and no more so than the County Cup final. I think that meant a lot to the girls. There are some huge Wolves fans in that dressing room and even the ones who aren’t Wolves fans have bought into the city, a bit like me.
“They want to make another memory on Wednesday night and hopefully they can do that.”
On whether there will be goals in the game
“I don’t think it’ll be a goal fest. It was very early in Jenny’s tenure when we played them last season, so I think she’ll have had them playing some really good stuff.
“They don’t concede many goals now, so I’m not expecting a lot of goals. We pride ourselves on trying not to concede goals.
“There are going to be some great players on the pitch in both sets of colours so I’m expecting a real spectacle and hopefully we can get some fans in to get behind the girls.”
"We’ve set standards over the last few years, and you’ve got to have that real desire and passion to represent the club the best you possibly can."
— Wolves Women FC (@WolvesWomen) October 11, 2022
Boss Dan McNamara on why you should support the girls in person tomorrow night.
🐺🗣 pic.twitter.com/uZvjyUmBhm
On bringing the city together
“That’s one thing that we’ve won over the last couple of seasons – the amount of fans, whether it be home or away.
“I think there was close to a thousand here last time out and we want to replicate that again. It really does make an impact on the girls.
“The city unites in football and on Wednesday night you’ll see heart, desire, passion, and everything going into beating our local rivals.
“Off the back of the Euros our attendances have slightly crept up. We had nearly 600 last week which is a phenomenal amount over the short time that we’ve been here at New Bucks Head.
“We want to try and get this place rocking. I can remember the away game last year when we massively overpowered them with fans again and it really does make a difference.”
On first-time supporters thinking of attending
“We want to try and get over the 1,000 barrier. We’ve probably struggled to break that since I’ve been here, so I’m calling out to all the old gold faithful to ger yourselves across to Telford and see what will hopefully be another fantastic game.
“Give it a chance. Come and give it an opportunity because these girls are phenomenal. We saw it on Sunday when they came up with a winner late on and I’m sure we’ll see bits of quality on Wednesday night.
“We’ve set standards over the last few years, and you’ve got to have that real desire and passion to represent the club the best you possibly can.
“We’ve got 20-odd girls who do that week in week out now. I’d urge people to get across and experience it for the first time – old, new, young. Whatever that looks like.
“Come over, bring your Wolves shirt and let’s get three points in the bag.”
