Skinner: We must attack Lyon on Wednesday

Our French visitors have won the European competition eight times in the past, more than anyone else, and will arrive in Leigh tomorrow as one of only three clubs unbeaten in the tournament’s league phase so far this season.

Their quality is clear, and something Marc pointed to during our pre-match press conference at Carrington on Tuesday afternoon. But, at the same time, the boss spoke about the “great challenge” that the matchday-five fixture presents, one that his team are “hungry” for, and one that we must attack positively.

Unfortunately, we’ll be tasked with doing it without our top scorer this season, as Skinner also reported in the media briefing that striker Elisabeth Terland picked up a knock in Sunday’s 2-1 win over West Ham, but otherwise noted that no further issues were sustained in that outing.

That would suggest that goalkeeper Phallon Tullis-Joyce came through her return to action after a three-game injury absence unscathed and therefore appears set to make her 50th United appearance against Lyon. She’s a player Skinner was also asked about in the press conference, as was Jayde Riviere, who he was sat alongside while fielding questions from reporters.

Scroll down for his answers on those aforementioned members of his squad, topics and more, in a round-up of his key quotes…

THE FEELING BEFORE WEDNESDAY

“Excited. Honestly, the whole reason to take on a team of this incredible talent is exactly why we're here. We wanted to pitch ourselves against the best teams in the world, let alone in Europe. So, I think Lyon are one of those. So, really excited. Genuinely, I think my team are hungry. I think they want to accept this great challenge. So, I'm honestly really looking forward to pitting ourselves against it, knowing that they're a very, very difficult team and many people have struggled against them. But it's a challenge of that, I think that the players are ready and looking forward to.”

PACE IN THE LYON SIDE

“I think there's pace everywhere in Lyon's team, so it's going to be key. If they play [Tabitha] Chawinga on the left, [Kadidiatou] Diani on the opposite side, then they'll be able to invade [beyond our backline]. So, we must be ready to deal with that. But also, the other thing is we must attack Lyon. You can't just sit off them, you've got to be very respectful of that. We must attack. We're at home and we look forward to actually trying to give ourselves that quality going forward too.”

POTENTIAL TO GO TOP OF TABLE

“I mean, it'd be nice, right? It'd be nice. Look, if we can beat Lyon tomorrow, we give ourselves an opportunity to qualify automatically in terms of those top four, [going] to the quarter-final. However, we've still got two games in this [stage], with a game after this one coming tomorrow. You don't romanticise about the outcome, you must find the grip. Like the reality is, if we don't grind tomorrow and we don't work and find every moment of everything, you don't deserve to beat Lyon. Hopefully, through my words comes the respect we have for them, but also, when you play at Man United, we're different to everybody else. We have this just inner ability to believe in each other and that can create miracles. So, for us tomorrow, I think if we can just do that, we'll be proud of what we put out on the field and then who knows, maybe that [being top of the league table] can be the reality after the game.”

TERLAND WILL MISS THE MATCH

“Only Teri will be missing, [she] took a knock in the game [on Sunday], so Elisabeth Terland will be out for this one, but everybody else is fit and healthy and up for selection. Barring Millie [Turner], Millie's close. Millie's probably, potentially a couple of games away. [With Terland] it's just a knock, upper body. She took a knock in the game, it should just be this game and then she’ll be ready for, hopefully, against Tottenham the weekend.”

TULLIS-JOYCE IS A STUDENT OF THE GAME

“I thought when we signed Phallon, I always saw the potential for her to be the world's best. She has an athleticism that’s unrivalled really – there's only a few in the world that have it. They have certain types, she has the complete package. What I'd say about her, the growth she's made adapting to the English game and the student of the game that she is. Every time she walks into any meeting room, she's got a book full of notes and she will ask anything, on set-pieces, the details. So, her brain is incredible. It absorbs so much information. And to sum it up, really, there's one moment in the game against West Ham where a ball comes in from a free-kick and she clears the area and it's a big booming ‘keeper’s’ [shout] and you could see the defence go [gestures calmness]. All of a sudden, it builds that confidence. You'd expect like Saf [Middleton-Patel] and Kayla [Rendell, United’s two other senior goalkeepers] to be learning from that. A different level of goalkeeper right now, but they're young, they should be learning from that, and I think that moment sums her up because it was a moment where actually you can physically measure just the impact she has on the team.”

RIVIERE’S SEASON SO FAR

“Exactly what I've said before: Jayde has the capacity to be one of, if not the best, right-back in the world. We've spoken about this, right? We're quite honest with each other. I think the next part of Jayde's growth is just that consistency of being able to do it on a weekly basis. And I think, look, she's such an expressive full-back. It's hard to keep doing that. So, she's growing, she's getting better at that. And I think when she's electric, honestly, nobody can live with her. So, I'm really looking forward to the growth of her. But I also understand the natural curve of somebody's performances and how they grow. So, she's in really good form and I'm looking forward to the extra development that she'll make throughout these next few seasons.”

IMPACT OUR FANS CAN HAVE IN LEIGH

“Our fans love our team. Most talk about it, but actually, they turn up in wind, rain, which it often is in Manchester! But more importantly, there was a moment against West Ham where they scored against a run of play, opportunistic goal, and you always judge your fans on what the reaction is to a goal that you concede, not goals for, they are easy to celebrate, right? But I just remember them chanting the team [on]. We're playing the best team in Europe [on Wednesday] – I know Barca are up there as well, but Lyon have the capacity to be the best team in Europe – so we’re going to need them. What I want Lyon to feel tomorrow is the force that Man United are and will become. And if we can do that tomorrow, then we can create an incredible moment for our club. And I want our fans to be able to share that with us because they deserve it.”