The Wolves Women boss has eyes firmly fixed on Thursday’s league fixture under the lights at the Hawthorns, where his side have the opportunity to close the gap on leaders Nottingham Forest to just two points. However, McNamara understands the difficulty of the task ahead and has called on the support of Wolves fans to offer their backing to the players, who he knows will give everything on the night.
On the games ahead
“Everyone’s excited – the fans are excited, the players are excited. As a manager, and I’m sure Jenny (Sugarman) will agree, it’s not ideal.
“Black Country derbies are intense and there’s a lot of pressure riding on it. You don’t want to let people down, you don’t want to let the fans down, so to have two in four days is going to be a real test of the players and how they can deal with such big occasions.
“We’ve got to make sure we’re on it and ready for what will be two huge games.”
On the league game up first
“The league’s always at the forefront of everything we do. Albion have had a massive upturn in their results and I think it was a little bit false where they were in the table, even two or three weeks ago.
“Jenny’s obviously got them playing some good stuff over the last few weeks and they’ve climbed to midtable now.
“It’ll be tough but they’ve probably got a little bit of pressure on themselves in terms of playing at the Hawthorns and I don’t think they’ve been beaten there before.”
On the expectations
“We’re hoping to go out and give a good account of ourselves. We’re hoping there will be a lot of fans there and we can, dare I say it, cause some kind of upset. They won’t enjoy getting beat at the Hawthorns and hopefully we can do that.
“Everyone always loves midweek fixtures under the lights. These are the kind of occasions you want to be a part of.
“I’d urge any Wolves fans to get down there and offer us your support. I know the girls need minimal input from me and they understand what it means to play in a Black Country derby.”
On how the team are shaping up
“It’s trying to deal with the occasion and everyone knows the magnitude. We’ve done quite well over the last few years in the fixture, but this one will be a completely different kettle of fish.
“Everybody knows we’ve had a bit of a tough season when it comes to injuries. If you take the best number nine arguably in the league out of your team, a lot of teams would struggle.
“It’s real credit to the girls that they’re still in the mix for the league and cup competitions. We’ve not had it easy but we’ve got to deal with it, that’s football.”
On first Black Country derby experiences for new signings
“The new signings have been great and I’m sure they’ll be excited for their first experience of a Black Country derby.
“Everyone has their own derbies within their clubs, but there’s nothing quite like a Black Country derby and I’m sure they’ll quickly see how important it is to everybody associated with the club.”
On the impact the fans can have
“They were fantastic when we played at home, I think there was close to 800 in there and they really make a difference.
“When we went 1-0 down you can hear the roar of the crowd getting behind the girls and we want that to be exactly the same on Thursday.
“These girls know what it means to represent Wolves, especially in a fixture of this magnitude and you’ll get everything out of them. You’ll get the heart and they’ll wear it on their sleeve. Some of them are passionate Wolves fans themselves.
“If you want to see that Black Country derby with everything that you’ll get from the men, then get yourselves down to the Hawthorns on Thursday and hopefully we can cause a bit of an upset.”
Tickets for Thursday’s game at the Hawthorns can be purchased from the WBA ticket office on the night, with cash or card payments available as options.
