Skinner: We want to show growth versus Arsenal

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Manchester United Women head coach Marc Skinner insists his side are determined to display a continued growth and development when we face league leaders Arsenal on Saturday. 

The Reds head to the Emirates Stadium (17:30 GMT KO) to face a Gunners side that is yet to lose across all competitions this season. 

They are therefore the team to beat in the WSL at the moment and make for a second successive test against one of the division’s powerhouses, with the Reds having been edged out by reigning champions Chelsea in our last game. 

Skinner’s team have shown an ability to compete with the division’s frontrunners in the past however, drawing away to Arsenal in our last league meeting in February, less than a month on from a win against the London club in the Conti Cup.

“To that game the growth is huge, but we still want it to be more because we want to be winning those games and putting ourselves in positions to win that game,” Skinner said, when asked if that 1-1 draw in last season’s WSL will give his players confidence going into Saturday’s corresponding fixture.

“But the growth in our team is huge, we can measure that with statistics, with the clean sheets we’re having and so on, but I want to see it in these games. 

“I want to see it in the visual format, I want to see our players keep taking responsibility. They want responsibility, they want to keep building, they want to keep being progressive with and without the ball. I want to keep testing us. 

“As a group, we have to keep pushing each other because we want to be in these games, winning these types of games even though we know how difficult that is to do.”

It’s been reported that 35,000 tickets have already been sold for Saturday’s game at the Emirates Stadium, which will be played in a teatime slot, and also be broadcast in the UK live on Sky Sports. 

Skinner believes it’s the perfect platform for the fixture and one that the two sides deserve to have.

“It’s built for both teams, and we have to try and maximise that. 

“You’re not going to have the best of this game for all 90 minutes, but in the moments you do, and the moments you create, you have to take those moments. Then when Arsenal create, you have to stop them taking those moments. 

“That’s the exciting part, it will be all of those things: the primetime slot in front of loads of fans, going out to hopefully the nation where we get all the viewers in. For us, that’s where this team belongs and deserves to be, and we have to perform like that.”

United’s head coach also went on to speak about the Reds’ duty to put in a characteristic performance on Saturday, in the first of our five games before the Christmas break.

“We have a responsibility to keep progressing and keep showing and keep giving our personality to the game because a Manchester United team plays with personality. 

“So, I’m going to keep reminding us how to do that but that’s what I’ll be looking for from these games coming up.”