Game: Spartans FC v Aberdeen FC Women
Competition: SSE Scottish Women’s Cup – 3rd Round
Day & Date: Sunday 11th August 2019
Kick Off: 1.00 pm
Venue: Ainslie Park Stadium, EH5 2HF

 

The AFC Women’s team are in Scottish Cup action this weekend.

The girls, who sit top of the SWFL Division 1 – North, get a break from the pressures of the league campaign but face a really tough challenge on the road against a side playing in the top Division.

Spartans sit a very respectable fifth in the Scottish Building Society SWPL 1, with only Rangers, Hibs, Celtic and Glasgow City above them.

AFC Co-manager’s Emma Hunter and Harley Hamdani previewed this weekend’s action:

Harley

“We know it is going to be a major challenge but it is one we are thoroughly looking forward to.

“The whole season has been a challenge so far with what we are trying to do here and what we are trying to build at the club.

“We know that this is another test.

“Without being disrespectful to any of the teams in our league, this will be a step up in terms of opposition that we will be facing on Sunday.

“It is something Emma, myself and the players are all really excited about, facing a top team like Spartans.

“We enjoy these challenges and enjoy seeing ourselves tested against that level of opposition.

“Every match we want to go out and perform as best we can to give ourselves a chance of winning the game. But at the same the pressure is on Spartans to go and win this game.

“We can go and approach it with a little bit of less pressure in the sense that the result is going to be one of two outcomes – It is either going to be a great learning opportunity or it is a chance to progress in the competition.

“Individually and as a group this will in some ways also give us a chance to see where we are at.

“There will be players in our team who thrive on an opportunity like this to see themselves tested against some of the best players in the country and will see it as an exciting opportunity.”

Emma

“We are not preparing any differently for this game.

“I think it is important that we are consistent with our preparation whoever we are playing. We need to be consistent with our messages and information about what we are trying to do.

“We obviously have a lot of focus on our league campaign and it is important that we don’t lose that focus.

“So we have treated it like we would with any other game and that is important for the players.

“We have done our usual analysis and worked hard this week on the things we need to work on going into the game. We feel that we are prepared for the match but I don’t think we have prepared any more than we would do for any other game.

“We have created a bit of an environment where we put a bit of self-pressure on our performance every week and that is really important to us. Regardless of the opposition, it is important we have that pressure on us every week so we can perform to the levels that we know we can.

“It is important to remember that we are developing as a squad so we need to be careful that we are not using this one game as a real measure (of how far we have come this season).

“Also we have got some players missing and a couple that we have signed that are cup tied. So this 90 minutes will give us an idea of where we are at but we need to mindful that it won’t give us a true reflection of how far we have developed either.”

Good luck to the girls this weekend.

SSE Scottish Women’s Cup

3rd Round Draw

Spartans FC v Aberdeen FC Women KO 13:00 | Ainslie Park Stadium

West Park United v Celtic FC KO 13:00 | Huntershill Sports Hub

Edinburgh Caledonia FC v Glasgow City KO 13:15 | Forrester High School

Forfar Farmington v Stenhousemuir Match Cancelled

Motherwell FC v Partick Thistle KO 13:30 | Ravenscraig

Dundee City v St Mirren WFC KO 14:00 | Charlotte Street Pitches

Hutchison Vale F.C. v Inverness Caledonian Thistle FC KO 14:00 | Saughton 3G

Kilwinning v Hamilton Academical Match Cancelled

Hearts v Raith Rovers Women KO 15:30 | Oriam National Performance Centre

Clyde FC v Clark Drive Ladies KO 16:00 | Broadwood Astro

Dunfermline Athletic v Stonehaven Ladies F.C. KO 16:00 | The Fleet Grounds

F.C Kilmarnock v East Fife KO 16:00 | Rugby Park

St Johnstone WFC v Boroughmuir Thistle FC KO 16:00 | McDiarmid Park

Queens Park L.F.C. v Westdyke Ladies KO 16:00 | Lesser Hampden

Rangers FC v Glasgow Girls KO 16:00 | The Hummel Training Centre