Rehanne looking for a fast start against Tokyo Verdy - Spurs Women USA Tour

Rehanne Skinner wants an energetic start from her team as we take on Tokyo Verdy Beleza in the Women’s Cup in Louisville, Kentucky, this afternoon (kick-off 2pm local time, 7pm UK).

Having suffered a 2-1 defeat in our opening game to Club America on Sunday evening, the squad is eager to come out on top this afternoon against our Japanese opponents as our preparations for the start of the new Barclays Women’s Super League season continue in earnest.

In Sunday’s 2022 Women's Cup opener, a slow start from us at the Lynn Family Stadium saw America – who are already seven games into their domestic campaign - race into a two-goal lead with just under a quarter-of-an-hour on the clock.

However, with the ship steadied as we headed towards the interval, we came out after the break with a renewed vigour and intensity - something which saw us halve the deficit on 64 minutes through Nikola Karczewska. Ultimately, though, we were unable to find the desired leveller.

“The second half was really good against Club America and we probably could have got ourselves a draw. Ultimately, we want to make sure we start much faster in today's game. That is definitely a target for us,” Rehanne reflected as she looked ahead to today’s clash against Tokyo Verdy.

“Tokyo are a very technically proficient team - they move the ball very, very well. So, out of possession, we are going to have to be really compact and make life as difficult as we possibly can for them and I think, if we can get ourselves into good positions to be able to do that from the start of the game, we’ll create good chances for ourselves to transition from that.

“From an in-possession perspective, I think we’ll be able to mix up some of the principles that we’re trying to put in place to try and create some different problems for them to solve as well. It’s another good chance to use a pre-season game as a learning opportunity and we want to keep moving forward in our preparations for the upcoming league campaign.

“And, out of the six teams in the competition, the only ones that are in their pre-seasons are us, Tokyo and AC Milan. Naturally, we’re chasing that side of things so we’ll be on a similar footing to Tokyo in that respect.”