O'Brien: No Pressure In Chelsea Tie
- LCFC Women face Chelsea in the Vitality Women's FA Cup at Kingsmeadow on Saturday
- The 1pm kick-off in the capital is a fifth-round tie against the holders
- Forward Shannon O'Brien believes it is an opportunity to keep optimism flowing
- City head into the encounter on the back of three successive wins in all competitions
In a fifth-round tie against the holders, the Foxes head to Kingsmeadow for a 1pm kick-off in the capital after defeating Tottenham Hotspur in the last round. That success came before consecutive Barclays FA Women's Super League triumphs over Birmingham City and West Ham United.
Now back in competitive action after the international break, which included an England Under-23s debut for O'Brien, City's No.27 believes the group is approaching Saturday's clash with Emma Hayes' side with confidence. Leicester were narrowly beaten by the Blues in the WSL earlier this season.
"The pressure of the league, especially in the last couple of months, has been massive on us," the former Coventry United forward told the media.
"We’ve just carried on week-on-week, keeping our momentum going, and keeping our performance level as high as possible. We can’t afford to drop many points so to step into the FA Cup, like Lydia’s said, it’s a free hit. We can go and play with some freedom and just take as much as possible from it.
"I’m used to being the underdog. For me, it doesn’t really make much of a difference. You approach games in the same way.
"It’s nice to just step out of the league and the pressures that come with it. It gives everybody a bit more freedom and a bit of change from the week-to-week basis of searching for three points in the situation we’re in. I think everyone’s really looking forward to it.
"We have to take advantage of every game we play. The more games we play, the better. We’re happy that we’re in the next round for this game. We wanted to have a game straight after the international break so we could carry on the momentum.
"Just playing 90 minutes of football is a positive for us, so we need to take that. We’re excited to get back playing after a little break and just enjoy the game."
The magic of the FA Cup remains at the forefront of O'Brien's mind ahead of Saturday's tie against Chelsea. After reminiscing about her own memories of the competition, the 20-year-old also expanded on her view that the encounter offers an opportunity to impress.
"My earliest memory of the FA Cup is Gerrard’s goal against West Ham, I’m a big Liverpool fan, so that’s the one that sticks in my head," she added. "The FA Cup, especially during my time at Coventry, it always gives you a free hit. It gives you a chance to go out there with no pressure and win a game.
"There’s no pressure from the league, so I love the FA Cup. I love the chance to just go out against the best teams and try and cause an upset.
"Especially in the women’s game, it’s a big one. We beat Tottenham last time out. We weren’t favourites to do that so we’ve already done something like that this season. We beat Man Utd as well last year. The magic of the FA Cup is still well and truly alive and hopefully it will be again this weekend."
All times GMT.