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Wed 17 November 2021, 13:00|Tottenham Hotspur

Rehanne Skinner’s team got a hard earned a point on the board after Saturday’s 1-1 draw with league leaders Arsenal to secure a historic first ever point in the north London derby. The fixtures keep on coming this week for Spurs Women starting with a visit to Watford tonight at the Orbital Fasteners Stadium, 7.30pm kick-off. We caught up with Head Coach Rehanne Skinner ahead of the game to get her thoughts... 

What could Rehanne share with us about the mood in camp since the weekend?

“The response from the players since Saturday has been really positive. They know how hard they worked and although there was a feeling amongst the squad after the game that we had dropped two points rather than gained one, now in reality everyone has looked back and analysed the performance itself and can see how much we have improved since the last time we played Arsenal. We set out to make life as difficult as we possibly could for them and the work ethic, desire and attitude from every single player was first class.

“We had opportunities to win the game and whilst we accept that they had opportunities earlier on that’s part of the game. We limited and frustrated them as much as we could. Since the weekend, the general vibe has been really pleasing. They came straight back in determined to be better in the next game. They are a resilient group and their focus and mindset shifted almost immediately, they are ready to work hard to improve and face the next challenge. The players want to put on another good performance against Watford and get a win out of the game to keep us pushing forward and stand us in good stead for our last league game before the international break against West Ham.”

Does Wednesday evening’s Continental Cup match against Watford present our Head Coach with an opportunity to rotate her squad and potentially give some of our younger players the chance to stake a claim in the starting XI for West Ham on Sunday?

“The players came out of the derby unscathed which is really positive. So-hyun [Cho] will also be available for selection after returning from her concussion injury which is another positive. We have a real solid depth to the squad, and everyone is playing their part. Every player needs to be fit and in the best condition to enable us to perform in the league as well as other competitions. Whilst some people have had a run of games, other people have come on and changed games. The Watford game is an opportunity for us to ensure we are in the best possible position that we can be moving forward to not only get only get a result from the game, but also for players to get minutes on the pitch and compete for a shirt in the West Ham game on Sunday."

“The Conti Cup is also a great opportunity to showcase our Academy and give some new players exposure to the First Team environment. We work closely with our Academy to provide a clear pathway of progression from our talent system to progress to our First Team environment. When Academy players are progressing and performing well, opportunities will arise, and Isabella Lane is a great example of that. Izzy made her senior debut against Arsenal during pre-season at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and will be in the squad for Watford which is a brilliant achievement for her.”

Watford are currently 11th in the Championship and will be looking to cause an upset in the Cup. Our Head Coach was under no illusions about how difficult the Hornets will make the game for her team.

“Every game that we play, we want to make sure we keep moving ourselves forward and drive our own standards. Obviously, whoever it is that we play against we want to put in a strong performance to get the best possible result from the game. We need to be at the races, we can’t be complacent or take anyone lightly, and we need to do whatever we can to keep working on trying to dominate possession and play a positive, attacking style of football whilst also being mindful that Watford have shown that they can be a really solid counter-attacking team. They commit numbers forward and can break at pace, so we need to be aware of that when we are in possession and looking to attack as well.”

Watch the match replay and full highlights from tonight’s Continental Cup game against Watford tomorrow on SpursTV and the FA Player.