City's Women Seal A Point At Charlton

Ahead of kick-off, it was confirmed that youth prospects Ellie York and Zaiga Lacite had stepped up from the Under-18s side to earn a place on the substitutes bench.

City started brightly as Lucy Johnson crossed for Paige Bailey-Gayle, who shot wide, while Lachante Paul also went close, before the visitors scrambled it off their line at the other end.

The Foxes were forced to make two changes before half-time, however, as Anna Blanchard and then Rachel Brown suffered injuries, being replaced by Leigh Dugmore and Simran Jhamat respectively. 

They went into the changing rooms behind, too, when Charlie Devlin slotted home from close range to give Charlton a lead, sparking a reaction from Leicester after the interval.

Just after Libby Smith was brought on in place of Freya Thomas, the visitors were back level, through a smart header from Lachante Paul in the 70th minute.

While Scarlett Field was required to make a number of saves late on, City held on to seal a vital point ahead of next Thursday's Continental Cup clash with Manchester United (7:30pm kick-off).

The details...

City: Field, N. Johnson, Everett, Morgan (c), Blanchard (Dugmore 30') , Paul, James, Thomas (Smith 65'), Bailey-Gayle, Brown (Jhamat 42'), L. Johnson

Subs not used: Lambourne, Cataldo, Lacite, York

Goal: Paul 70'