Ellie Wilson is looking for Wolves Women to show more consistency within their league performances ahead of Sunday’s trip to leaders Newcastle United.
The defender rescued a point for the Old Gold in last weekend’s 1-1 draw with Stoke City, her fifth goal of the season in all competitions, however Dan McNamara’s side were disappointed not to pick up all three points. Wolves travel to Newcastle who have lost just one league game all season, and Wilson knows the difficulty of the task in hand, but has belief that there is enough within the group to pick up a positive result.
On the Stoke draw
“We all know that wasn’t a performance to our standards, especially off the back of our performance at the Reading game.
“It wasn’t good enough so, ultimately, we were disappointed but pleased we could get something out of the game even if it was in the dying minutes. We need a reaction and to put that right going into the next game.”
On being more consistent
“The cup’s going really well but in terms of the league, it’s that consistency. Performances have been up and down and I think it shows we do have the potential and the ability to go and perform and get results against big teams.
“We need to apply that in every match because every game matters when you want to achieve big things.
“We need to be more consistent game to game and hopefully get better results."
On the competitiveness of the league
“Every game is a difficult game and lots of teams are wanting to achieve big things this season. It’s a very competitive league.
“No game is an easy game at all. That’s been demonstrated in the results we’ve got. We ultimately want to go out and get three points but it hasn’t been easy.
“I think we do have the ability in there, we just need to find a way to win games and make sure that we get three points at the end of the day.”
On scoring the equaliser against Stoke
“I was glad we got one at the end because it rescued a point but we had a lot of opportunities throughout the game.
“Even on an individual level, I want to be more consistent with that and hopefully be more of a threat more often.
“We create chances as a team and have plenty of opportunities. The quality is there, we just need to finish our chances and be more clinical when we get the opportunity."
A fifth goal of the season for @elliej_wilson 🖐 pic.twitter.com/G5m8I00ywS
— Wolves Women FC (@WolvesWomen) January 30, 2024
On scoring five goals this season
“On an individual level, I’m really pleased with that. I got a few last season and being a threat on set pieces is something I’m trying to work on and become more clinical with it.
“Credit to Morphy (Anna Morphet) and Beth Merrick’s deliveries – they’ve been helping me out. Any way that I can help, I’m buzzing.”
On travelling to Newcastle
“Newcastle have had a really strong season and have been getting really good results. It will be a tough place to go without a doubt.
“They’re full-time as well so that’s an added element that we have to compete with, but we’ve got the quality in the group and we’ve shown we can beat teams of a higher calibre – the FA Cup game is an example of that.
“We’ve just got to focus on our game, take anything out of it that is relevant to Newcastle and their form, just focus on ourselves and hopefully get three points. I think we’ve got it within the group to be able to go up there and do that.”
On Newcastle being unbeaten until their last league game
“It’s been a bit of an on-going thing. They’ve won pretty much every game for I don’t know how long so it will be interesting to see how they reacts off the back of losses.
“For us, we’ve got to focus on ourselves and it might be something we can capitalise on. We need a bounce back type of reaction following our last performance as well so it will be an interesting game from both perspectives. I think it’s there to be taken.”
On the squad depth
“Everyone’s ready to be called upon when needed. We’ve all pulled together in that respect and we’ve got real strength in depth within the squad which is really important because we need players to come on, make an impact and for players to start the game strong.
“As a group, we’re all aiming for that same common goal so it’s really important we’re all pulling in the same direction.
“Whether someone’s playing 90 minutes or 20 minutes, we really are fighting as a group. When you get an opportunity to do your thing on the pitch, that’s where it really counts.”
On having full focus on Sunday
“For us, it’s always been a case of taking one game at a time and one week at a time. A lot of people say it, but it is important to stay focused.
“The league is a really important campaign for us so we need to improve our league form, and that starts with Newcastle.
“There’s no way we can start thinking about Brighton until we get that game out of the way and hopefully pick up three points because we need to turn results around.”
