Key quotes: Skinner's pre-Bristol City press conference

The Reds suffered a first defeat of the campaign in last weekend’s Manchester derby against City at Old Trafford, but put up a resilient response to that inaugural setback in midweek, by winning a tightly contested Conti Cup clash away to Liverpool.

Next up, it’s back to the Women’s Super League and a visit to bottom-of-the-table Bristol City and, in spite of their current position, the boss says United should only expect to be faced with another difficult challenge on the road at Ashton Gate.

Ahead of Sunday’s visit to the West Country, Skinner sat down with journalists to preview the fixture in his pre-match press conference, which you can see the key quotes from below…

REFLECTIONS ON WIN AT LIVERPOOL

“We didn't see them [the players] yesterday, they had a day off, so I haven't seen them till this morning. We'll assess that game. What we did well, what some of the aspects are that we want to keep improving and obviously we'll preview into Bristol. I think you could hear it in the post-match comments from the players, I think they were happy with the way that they conducted themselves. We had to be resilient at the back and try and create on a tight pitch, and I felt that we did that. So, the players should be proud of what they've done, and I think they'll come in today and they'll be spirited from their performance. But also, I think we'll get them straight back to focus because there's a big game [on Sunday].”

TEAM NEWS

“They come in today, so I don’t fully know but there were no expectations I don’t think, [we just need to] see how their legs are after the game. Ire [Guerrero] is probably a few weeks away still, her MCL is fine, she got a little bit of a calf tweak. I think she’s back running next week, so hopefully after the international break we’ll be able to see her come back into the squad. Apart from that I think everyone is okay.”

MAKING PROGRESS

“We’re still trying to click, we’re still trying to get into the rhythm we want to but I am seeing massive strides forward. I’m actually pretty happy with the performances. The other night, to come back off a disappointing performance against Manchester City and play Liverpool – who I think at Prenton Park are ridiculously hard to play against – for us to perform the way we did, keep solid and win the game, I thought was a really positive performance.”

NIKITA PARRIS’S FORM

“Keets played a lot of minutes for us last year but what I feel she’s found for us this year is that extra level of motivation. She’s always a motivated character, she’s a competitive spirit but what I’ve seen here is growth, back to parts of old Nikita but with the experience of new Nikita. She’s more deadly in the box, aggressive with her running and, more importantly, she’s sharp of mind. I think when she’s in a good mind and headspace, you see the very best of her and, at the minute, she’s in a really good headspace. She’s taking responsibility, I’m really pleased with her.”

LAUREN SMITH’S BRISTOL CITY

“She has [took to management well] and it's difficult. I look at the experience of the squad she has in the WSL and it's a tough one, but they've acquitted themselves really well. They took some really good results, especially the West Ham one [3-2 win away from home]. But they have this youthful effervescence that they're not going to give up and they're going to work hard, and they'll make it difficult for you to beat them. But also, on the counter-attack, they're aggressive. If we turn up and we're not at our sharpest, then the game will ebb away from us, and we can't allow that. So, I'm going to make sure our players are fully focused on what they've got to do.”