The Focus Is On Us, Says Whelan
- LCFC Women face Bristol City on Sunday afternoon at Ashton Gate
- The Barclays Women's Super League fixture has a 2pm BST kick-off
- We come into the season with a winning mentality, says Aileen Whelan
- Ticketing information for this weekend's match can be found HERE
The new Barclays Women's Super League season commences on Sunday afternoon for the Foxes when they travel to face the newly-promoted Bristol City at Ashton Gate, following an extended pre-season break, which has included several friendlies against top tier opposition such as Liverpool and Everton.
During the first press conference of the 2023/24 campaign, captain Whelan shared what it has been like around Belvoir Drive for the past couple of months and how a change in personal has sparked new energy around the training camp ahead of a crucial third consecutive season in the WSL.
"It's been a long pre-season with the World Cup," she told the media. "After that, everyone is just raring to get going and back to playing games, and hopefully do a lot better than we did last season.
"Last season was more a case of we can't lose the game, whereas now we're going into them wanting to win the games. Our mentality has changed, compared to being in the relegation battle of last year, and we're determined that we won't put ourselves into that position again this time around.
"We've got a lot of winners that have come in, and it's pushed the rest of us to up our game. We know as a squad what our targets are, and we know what we need to do to achieve them.
"You can see in the personal that we've brought in, both player and staff-wise, we're in a much better position to compete for the top half of the table. It seems like the new players have settled in well, we're starting to gel on the pitch and come Sunday that'll be all that matters.
"We've got competition across the squad now and we've added quality and experience from different leagues, who arrive to Leicester with a different culture who can help the dynamic of the team as well, so it's good to help push this team forward."
Sunday's opponents come into the season in fine form off the back of last season's promotion from the Barclays Women's Championship, where the Robins tallied up 15 wins throughout the campaign, leading to their re-introduction into the Super League after two seasons away.
City's No.10 went on to explain how no game in the top division is easy, but after last year's events, believes that the Foxes have welcomed a winning mentality, and that focusing on their own game will result in better performances which will in turn add points to the standings as Leicester aim for a top-half finish.
"Sunday will be a difficult one," Whelan continued. "It's Bristol City's first game back in the WSL for a number of years so they're going to come out raring to go so it's important we stick to our game plan, and we do what we're capable of, and then the result will take care of itself.
"The performance is what matters, and that's what Willie [Kirk] has told us. We need to make sure we listen to the game plan, so that we can understand and implement it on the pitch. We've been working hard during pre-season, but we'll need to be perfect should we want to win on Sunday.
"I have an unwritten role to make sure people feel welcome at the Club, and help with off the field situations as well. But the only way you get experience in the WSL is by playing so it might look a bit different to start with, but the new players and the youngsters will get there.
"For me, it's nice to see the back end of pre-season and be grateful for the new season to be starting. The focus is then on games, rather than the fitness levels as such. But the league is growing, the difference between the top and bottom half is shrinking, which is what we want to see. In terms of playing Bristol City, we don't mind who our first game is against. We always have the same mentality and it's up to us to go and win it."