Dan McNamara wants his side to embrace being the underdog at Reading on Sunday afternoon.
Wolves Women travel to face the Royals in the FA Cup at Aldershot Town’s EBB Stadium and the manager believes the Old Gold can use their lower divisional status to their advantage when they go head-to-head with Championship opposition.
Speaking ahead of the tie, McNamara says the pressure is off his team and he wants the players to enjoy the experience but, at the same time, is hoping Wolves can cause an upset.
On going up against Reading
“We’re really excited and I think the girls are buzzing. It’s a little bit of a different feel this year to last year. It was a huge WSL club, a household name and I’m not disrespecting Reading in any way whatsoever.
“This time around there’s a sense that potentially we can almost have a real go on Sunday. You draw one of the top end WSL clubs and you almost know what’s coming and trying to keep the score down is often part of that.
“We’ve drawn a Championship club and by no means am I saying it’s going to be an easy feat, but there’s no reason why the girls can’t go out and really give it a go and test themselves against a club who are currently sat where Wolves want to be – in and amongst the Championship, fighting to stay in the league and it’ll be a great test for our girls who still have ambitions to play at that level.”
Smiling into @AdobeWFACup weekend 😆 pic.twitter.com/WSORy5EAaw
— Wolves Women FC (@WolvesWomen) January 12, 2024
On a different type of game
“I’ve said the pressure is off the girls. We knew last weekend was going to be difficult against Burnley, we knew what was at stake.
“At moments in the game you could tell the girls were nervous. This weekend, the nerves have got to disappear and it’s got to be about enjoying it and really feeling reward for getting this far again.
“For a tier three team to be in the fourth round of the FA Cup is fantastic. We’ll go down there, enjoy the whole experience and we’ll try and stay away from the occasion. The occasion’s often what beats you.
“Not having it at the Madjeski probably makes it less of an occasion for us which is good. I think the girls will feel more at home at Aldershot, so it’s about us going down there and the pressure’s really on Reading – they’re the ones who are expected to win.
“It’ll be a welcome change for us. Quite often over the last few years we’ve been in that position where we’ve been the ones expected to win various ties, whether that be league or cups games.
“To go into Sunday as an underdog and going down there just to show what the girls can do will be fantastic for everyone.”
On wanting to cause an upset
“Football is a short career. It’s a ruthless game and ruthless industry that we work in. Who knows how long players or staff last in these positions, so to keep making memories like this with the girls is fantastic for me.
“The last few years have been full of them. The West Ham one was a stand-out one hosting Paul Konchesky – someone who I looked up to when he was at Liverpool.
“We get the chance to go down and do the same with Reading. They’ll have some really good household names, some international players in there and I get to share the touchline with Liam Gilbert, one of my old friends from Oxford. That will be quite special to share the touchline with him again but ultimately we’re going down there to try and cause an upset.
“We want to get into the fifth round, something the club have never done before or certainly not in the recent history. We want to get into the fifth round and see if we can pull out another big name.”
On the test Reading will pose
“Liam likes to play football, he likes his rotations, good structure in what his teams are doing. I think they’ll be front-footed.
“What we’ve seen of them over the last few weeks, they’re on the front-foot certainly against the teams in and around them. They’ll press high and they’ll give us respect, but they’ll be expected to win the game and I think they’ll be aggressive and want to fight from the off. We’ve got to match that.
“They’ve had a good result against Cheltenham who were in the south last year, but I personally believe the north is a different animal.
“The Northern Division is tough, you’ve got to fight and have real heart and desire. It’s a different league and hopefully we can take some of that down to Reading and give a good show.”
