Bees boss Lee Burch was in high spirits ahead of this Sunday’s FA Women’s Championship clash with Crystal Palace at The Hive London.
The Bees come into the game with back to back wins behind them after they beat Lewes in their last league fixture before last Sunday’s Conti Cup triumph over City Lionesses.
The boss highlighted how confidence is high going into yet another London derby.
“We were really pleased with last weekend’s performance and of course the result that went with it. Confidence is high and we have been on a pretty good run of form following some really good performances in the last few matches. Although confidence is high, it is important that we don’t get complacent, we have to show our confidence out there on the pitch.”
“Palace did really well in the first half against Chelsea, who are on one of the best sides in Europe, so they’ll come into this one with their spirits high as well. We have to play with our quality and start the game right and go on to get a good result.”
“We looked at what we did well against London City, some of the football we played at times was really good, we kept the ball for long spells, we pressed really well and that had a massive impact on the result.”
The Eagles come to The Hive sitting in seventh position in the FA Women’s Championship following a tough start to the season where they’ve played each of the top three.
Burch admits that his side are in for a tough game at The Hive on Sunday and recent form goes out the window when it comes to London derby matches.
“They won’t be pleased with their results so far, but they have players with a lot of quality, we will be wary of that because anyone on their day anyone can win a game in this division”
“We might be coming into this game in a good run of form, but things can change very quickly, so we have to be at our best if we want to take away the three points”
“The home form has to be something we look back on at the end of the season and be pleased about. It’s a nice place to come for away teams but we need them to realise very quickly that is not a nice place to come and we will make it very difficult for teams to come here”
Burch was quick to praise the Bee’s fans for the support the team and himself have received throughout the season and urged for the fans to continue to get behind the Bees as head into an imperative part of the season.
“The crowd is really important and they really spur us on, the players can feel that when they are being cheered on. They were brilliant against Lewes in horrendous conditions, so hopefully the weather is a bit nicer! We really need their support again this weekend.