'We will need electric crowd again'

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Sunday's WSL home game against Arsenal has sold out.

Charlie Hanson

2023-11-19T06:00:00Z

Guro Bergsvand poses with a supporter after our 2-2 draw against Manchester United.

Melissa Phillips hopes to see an ‘electric’ sell-out crowd on Sunday as her team take on Arsenal.

Albion head into the game off the back of a win away at Manchester City, having drawn at home to Manchester United the week prior.

“We’re excited to be back home this weekend,” the women’s first-team head coach said. “The atmosphere was absolutely electric against Manchester United.

“We hope for the same thing [this weekend], we need our fans to will us on. Arsenal will have a lot of supporters with them and so we need a big performance.”

That 1-0 win over City has given Phillips’s team a huge amount of confidence, but the American was impressed with her team’s response to the victory.

“The impressive part of this group is that despite coming home with three points, we were really critical of our performance in a positive way in how it could have been better both going forward and defensively,” Phillips said. “That’s because of how we’ve been from game one, we took a lot from the first four or five games.

“We’ve been able to implement those changes in a really positive way, but we know our next performance has to be just as focused, just as intense and even better with the ball.”

Beating City marked a first win in five WSL outings, having drawn the previous week against Manchester United, when Marc Skinner’s team grabbed a last minute equaliser.

“We’re excited by the result, but the most important thing was that it was another positive performance,” Phillips continued. “City have been a very good team in possession and in front of goal this season, so to limit their chances to outside of the box was a credit to the group to how well we defended.

“We knew some of the changes we made in the second half we’d get on the ball a little bit more and were brave in our pressing in their half to open up the game a little bit.

“It was a really good performance and we will definitely take a lot of confidence from the last few games.”