Looking At The Bigger Picture – Bedford’s Pre-Man City Message

- LCFC Women take on Manchester City in the Continental Tyres League Cup group stage on Wednesday
- Lydia Bedford gave her take on a busy week of fixtures and the challenge ahead
- The manager is set to rotate in order to maintain freshness in the squad
- Tickets for the 7pm kick-off at Pirelli Stadium will be available to purchase in Burton

The Foxes enter the rearranged fixture, which is both sides’ final Group B contest, just one point behind the Citizens, but requiring a nine-goal swing in order to earn a spot in the quarter-finals as the best finishing runners-up.

Ahead of welcoming Gareth Taylor’s side to Pirelli Stadium in Burton, Leicester's manager discussed the mood around the camp and how they aim to bounce back from a narrow league defeat to Reading three days earlier.

“We just finished training and it was really energetic,” she told LCFC TV on Tuesday, fresh from overseeing preparations for the 7pm kick-off. “Walking off the pitch (on Sunday), there was obvious disappointment at the result.

“But knowing that they put in a really strong performance in the second half has helped them bounce back quickly today. That’s important with the games we’ve got coming up this week.”

Battling the challenges surrounding playing three matches in seven days, especially with a squad hit by injury and illness, the former England youth coach believes it is crucial to allow players to recover and be ready to face Brighton & Hove Albion in the Barclays FA Women’s Super League on Sunday.

“Management of the loading of players is a big one,” she explained. “Brighton is probably our bigger priority this week and we want freshness going into that game to allow the players to be competitive and be able to do what they did in that second half this week and go on and really push in the game.

“It’s about how we load them across training, how well we rotate them [on Wednesday] night, so we’ll have that freshness going in on Sunday. Less so for Wednesday, but more so for Sunday with the COVID return to play protocols that we’ve got.”

Aware that a tough challenge awaits against the in-form Manchester outfit, Bedford wants to see players take their chance and staking a claim for a permanent spot in the starting XI by producing a positive performance, if selected in midweek.

Bedford continued: “Tomorrow presents a great opportunity to give some of our Academy players game time as well as some of the players that weren’t able to feature on Sunday.

“There’s a few smiles walking out on the training pitch today from players that know they are going to get an opportunity and perhaps haven’t had one this season so far. I’ve just said to them all, it’s about individual battles across the pitch and it's their opportunity to show us where we’re at, so hopefully they will seize that opportunity.

“Man City scored some goals in quick succession (at the weekend) and there’s no doubting the quality of the team they’ve got and the number of international players they’ll have at their disposal.

“But you can only play what’s in front of you and if the girls focus on executing the game plan and taking care of their one vs. one battles, then hopefully they will be competitive.”

The Blue Army's role has been crucial in Bedford’s short time in charge to date, willing the team on to victory over Birmingham City. The manager, who will be in the dugout at Pirelli Stadium for the first time, hopes that having home advantage can build some momentum moving into a crucial league fixture.

“I’m really excited to step out into another stadium as our home ground and experience what it feels like to play there,” she added. “The atmosphere before Christmas was exceptional and even at the Reading game on Sunday you could hear the fans cheering us on in that final part of the game.

“I hope we get lots of people at Pirelli Stadium tomorrow night and that support is there for us.”

Pay-on-the-day tickets will be available to purchase at the Pirelli Stadium ticket office from 5:30pm on Wednesday evening.

All times GMT.