Dan McNamara has looked ahead to the first month of 2024 for Wolves Women and described every game as ‘massive’.
The Old Gold play four fixtures in three different competitions which include a Black County derby semi-final in the County Cup and a trip to face Championship side Reading in the Adobe Women’s FA Cup. However, unbeaten Burnley are the first opponents of the new year on Sunday afternoon as McNamara and his team go head-to-head with the second-placed Clarets in the league. The manager has spoken on the timing of the Christmas break, the month ahead and facing Burnley at the New Bucks Head.
On whether the Christmas break came at a good time
“The Christmas break probably didn’t come at a good time for us to be honest. With the way the girls looked and how they were in training, we felt good.
“We were gutted to only get one game in during that last three or four weeks before the Christmas break.
“We were eager to get on the pitch. We wanted to go out and put all that stuff we’d put into training onto a gameday.
“However, in some aspects, it probably came at the right time in terms of a couple of injuries and people needing a break.”
On the month of January
“Every game is massive when you’re looking to go as deep as you can in all competitions and January is really tough.
“It’s a tough start – we’ve got arguably one of the best teams in the league to open the new year in Burnley.
“They’re unbeaten so far this season and probably a little bit ahead of us now in their journey with regards to where they’re at.
“It’s a tough one against them and then it doesn’t get any easier the week after when we travel to Reading to play in what will be a fantastic occasion for the girls.
“There’s a little less pressure but we want to go down there and give a good account of ourselves. We’re not going to make up numbers, we’re going to see if we can compete at that level and hopefully we can pull off a shock.
“We’re then straight back into a semi-final with West Bromwich Albion which is always going to be tough. Thankfully it’s at home and we’ve got that home advantage to work with.
“Then we finish it off with Stoke at home who gave us our first defeat of the season, although I think it was against the run of play and going down to 10 didn’t help.
“It’s a really tough month and at the end of the month that will really shape our season moving forward. Hopefully we can get some positive results and make sure we’re looking good heading into February.”
On the threat of Burnley
“They’re tough, they’re well-organised and they’ve got some of the best young players within the league who have come out of outstanding environments at Man City and Man Utd.
“They’ll come and look to play so it’s important we stay in the game and we’re really good and controlled without the ball.
“Hopefully we can pose them a few problems and try and create our own problems for them going forward.
“We’ve made Telford a bit of a fortress this season and I don’t think we’ve been beaten there yet.
“I’m not too sure how many times we got beat there last season but I think it was minimal. We’ve got to continue that, especially in the league campaign.
“As you approach the FA Cup it becomes more difficult the deeper you get into the competition but certainly in the league, we have to use that home form and try and make it an intimidating place to come. That’s with the crowd as well as the way we play.
“Hopefully we can do that on Sunday and start 2024 with a really positive result. We’ll then look forward to what should be a great occasion the week after with the Reading fixture.”
