Brighton & Hove Albion defender Laura Rafferty says that the team have the belief that they can hold their own against current FA Women’s Super League champions Chelsea this afternoon, kick-off 2pm.
Despite falling to three 1-0 defeats in the league this season in matches the Seagulls arguably could have got something from, Rafferty believes that the team spirit is still high going into the match.
She said, “The morale is really good. Looking back at the past three league games we have played, we’ve been very unfortunate not to get the results.
“We’ll be going into this game with a management strategy in terms of how to gain points out of this game.
“We’re all looking forward to it and it’s a game where we can look to try and put things right from our past results.”
The defender then went on to describe the challenges the Blues possess and what the squad need to look out for during the match.
“They’re a very strong team all over. They have great individuals, they are strong as a team and they’re very attacking. They like to outnumber opponents in certain areas of the pitch, but we’ve done our research to overcome the challenges.
“They have a lot of ability upfront, so for me as a defender it’s something that I’ll look forward to. We also know they’ll be looking to score goals as they’ve been a bit light on that so far this season in the league, which I don’t think people have expected.”
Albion travelled to Kingsmeadow to face Chelsea for their first match of the season in the Continental Tyres Cup and Rafferty described what they learned from the match.
“People look at their name and the players they have in the squad and judge them as one of the best teams in the world, which they are, but we know we can compete with that.
“The first game we played against them made us realise how well we can compete with the way we got on the ball, the way we created chances and the way we scored. It will give us more belief going into this game that we can do that again.”
Rafferty joined the Seagulls from Chelsea back in January 2017 and admitted that although she was looking forward to going back to face her former club, her focus was on securing the win for Albion.
“It’s always nice going back. It will be tough, but my focus will be on Brighton. This is where I’m at and this is who I want to do well for.
“As much as I enjoyed my time when I was there and how nice it will be to see the fans that still remember you and say hello, I want to go there and get the job done and get the points on the board for us.”