Competition: Park’s Motor Group SWPL1 Match: Hamilton Accies v Aberdeen Women Venue: New Douglas Park, Hamilton. Kick Off: 1400 Social Media: Follow @AberdeenWomen on Twitter for in game updates and match reaction.
Emma spoke to RedTV (click here to watch) on Wednesday afternoon at the Aberdeen Sports Village where she was holding an additional training session with a few of the players:
“We do an extra training session at the Sports Village on a Wednesday. We’ve got a lot of players here at the moment who are at university studying, some are taking a year out, so it is a good opportunity. It’s really individualised training. We get them down here and we’ll work on the things that they need to work on individually. It’s very functional and a lot of repetition, it’s a great opportunity for the girls.
“I think the girls are really enjoying it as well, and they’re getting more touches of the ball and it just gives us an extra session face to face with them, which is brilliant.
“As a club one of our values is to be resourceful and we definitely are. We are trying to make the most of what we’ve got available.
“For me, it’s about developing the players as well and something that Aberdeen pride themselves on. It’s not just about your performances, it’s about, making these players better. And that’s one of my values as well as a coach and it shows the commitment as well of the girls.
The Dons ran out 1-0 winners in their last game with Hamilton, Emma is looking for a similar result as Aberdeen return to action for the first time in three weeks:
“It is three weeks since our last game and it has been really difficult. It feels a bit stop start and some of our training sessions have had to be cancelled as well due to the weather and the storm.
“We play Hamilton on Sunday, and it is vitally important that we get back and get a fixture in the calendar before the break. When we look at the table at the moment, it is not where we want to be, but we know that three points on Sunday changes everything.
“If we can get this game played on Sunday, pick up the three points, then the table looks different, and we go into the new year with a real positive attitude. It’s vitally important that we get the game played and we get the three points.
“Hamilton are organised, they’ll have studied how we play, we need to be switched on. We need to make sure we learn from the Motherwell Hearts game where we felt that we should have really picked up six points and make sure that that doesn’t happen again.
“We really need to focus on the three points, but they will be exactly the same. Three points makes a massive difference at the bottom of the table. We just need to make sure that we’re ready for that and play the football we know we’re capable of.
“Hamilton is our final game of the year; you don’t want to be dwelling on a defeat and looking at ourselves in the table. We all want to be celebrating and having a nice Christmas and be able to relax a little bit.
“Our last game was against Celtic who have just won the SWPL Cup at the weekend, they’ve been a really successful team and a difficult team to try and beat. For about 75 minutes against Celtic, we played brilliantly, and we’ve learned so many lessons. Unfortunately, they have had the stamina because they’re full-time professionals. They just had the edge in the last 15 minutes. Knowing how close we came to actually picking up three points against them, we should use that as a big incentive. We’re still a young team and we’ve had some harsh lessons.
“The girls will probably hate us, but they won’t get that much time off over the winter break. We won’t stop training to make sure we are still ticking over. The girls will be given a strength and conditioning programme to do as well. It’s important when you live in Aberdeen, when the weather is as bad as it sometimes can be, we need to make sure that we’re maximising their training time because you never know if you will have a session cancelled. The girls are really good at being responsible and looking after their fitness. It’s credit to them, and that’s why we’re competing in this league, because we are a very well-conditioned team, and they look after themselves and they’ve got a lot of self-responsibility about them. It’s a short break, so hopefully we can get right back into.
On the women’s game as a whole, Sunday saw two cup finals in Scotland and England both being shown live on TV with a record attendance for the SWPL Cup final between Celtic and Glasgow City. The Dons are also backed by local companies, Boskalis, GAC & Tendeka, which has helped with the exposure of the game.
“We really appreciate all the support and I thanked all of our sponsors personally for the support that they have given us. I think that they see a vision that is there to be had. The exposure of the women’s game is increasing, records are being broken every week in the women’s game, it is the fastest growing sport in the world. In America it has been big for a long time.
“It is an opportunity for organisations to be like minded and to have the innovation for the women’s game. It is brilliant to see these local companies supporting Aberdeen. We really appreciate all of the support. It is an investment that you get high return in, and it is only going to get better. If you can get in early and get that exposure, then it is great for the women’s game.
“For me I will always have pride watching two women cup finals on the TV at the weekend and hopefully plenty of new people were watching them. It is great to see that exposure. For me the support that we have received is immense and I am excited to see what the future holds here.”
“For me I will always have pride watching two women cup finals on the TV at the weekend and hopefully plenty of new people were watching them. It is great to see that exposure. For me the support that we have received is immense and I am excited to see what the future holds here.”
