Enjoy The Game, Says Plumptre
- LCFC Women's Vitality Women's FA Cup journey continues against Manchester United Women on Sunday (12pm kick-off)
- The Foxes travel to Leigh Sports Village for the fifth round clash after defeating Liverpool Women in round four
- Defender Ashleigh Plumptre speaks about City's mentality going into the cup tie with the WSL side
- She says Leicester can play with freedom knowing that there is no expectation on them as the underdogs
Having wrapped up the FA Women's Championship title and subsequently lifted the trophy at King Power Stadium, the Foxes have one final test before the curtain comes down on a memorable 2020/21 campaign.
The Red Devils await in the fifth round of the FA Cup at Leigh Sports Village on Sunday (12pm kick-off), with the winners' reward a place in the last eight of the competition, scheduled to take place next season.
In a virtual pre-match press conference held on Zoom, the Leicester-born defender explained how the squad have been able to shift focus on to this new challenge, two weeks after celebrating their league title triumph.
"Lifting the trophy at King Power Stadium was great, but we celebrate and then move on," Plumptre told the media on Thursday. "We're very quick to think about the Man United game and prepping for that.
"You don't always have time to let it sink in but we made the most of the day and I couldn't ask for anything better for my first official full season at Leicester City.
"We've got back into the normal routine, everybody was in and we're pretty good at switching the mentality to the Man United game. When we beat Liverpool, we knew that our season was going to be extended.
"We said: 'let's finish with the league and celebrate that the way that we deserve to', but then all attention from then on has been on Man United.
"We've had the pressure on our backs for the whole season. We've been tipped from the beginning as the team to win the league and there was no complacency with that, we knew that every game was going to be difficult.
"I think in training everybody is playing with a bit more freedom. People aren't as up tight in their play because we know that the expectation is that United, they've have had a really good season, they are going to want to finish it off well.
"We feel no pressure, we're just going to go there and obviously enjoy the game, but it's also a perfect ending almost for the start of next season."
Plumptre feels the expectation is all on the home side, who finished fourth in the Barclays FA Women's Super League this term. But City are also ready to draw on big game experiences they have encountered during this season.
"Naturally there is more freedom anyway because we are underdogs and we have only just been promoted from the Championship," she continued. "Man United have just missed out on a Champions League spot so we're not really expected to win.
"But there are times this season when we have managed to play with freedom in games that are high pressure, once we get past a certain stage. Remi [Allen] was very good for when we were playing certain teams, she would block the game into 15 minute spells.
"And in those spells we had different targets to achieve from those periods, either just to stay in it, to stay compact, or to go and press really high and put the team under pressure. In that sense, we've had differing levels of freedom throughout the season.
"I love the underdog mentality. Most of the time I've been on teams that are an underdog and I love it because you can play with so much more freedom."
Looking ahead to playing in the top flight next season, Plumptre is relishing the opportunity of testing herself against the best forwards in the country. She sees Sunday's fixture as a dress rehearsal for 2021/22, giving the team a taste of what is to come.
The centre-back added: "It will give us a good guideline of where we're at going into the WSL. I think just knowing that we're going to try and compete with teams similar to Man United next season, I think it will not only be good for us and our confidence, it will almost warn the other teams that we're not just here to make up the numbers.
"We really don't want to be scrapping at the bottom of the table, we want to be competing. This is the reason that women's football is so good, because on any day, anyone can beat anyone and that's the mentality we have here.
"The communication aspect is going to be even more important this coming season, because as a team, we defend well from the front.
"Whatever team we play, we always create chances because we have really good attacking players. It's just now the little one per cent differences and being able to take those chances and being clinical with it."
All times BST.