- LCFC Women meet Manchester United at Leigh Sports Village on Saturday
- The Foxes won their last two WSL games ahead of the 12pm kick-off
- Natasha Flint previewed their latest encounter with the Red Devils
- The forward has scored on her last two visits to Manchester
City travel north to meet Manchester United at Leigh Sports Village on Saturday in a 12pm kick-off, signalling the resumption of league duties and a chance to increase the eight-point gap to the relegation zone.
The upturn in form led to manager Lydia Bedford being named Barclays FA Women's Super League Manager of the Month following two wins from two last month and Flint praised the impact she has had on the group since taking charge in December.
“Lydia [Bedford] has done a great job since she’s come in,” the striker enthused. “It’s hard to come in mid-season. We were in a relegation battle and at the bottom of the league. From when Lydia’s come in to where we are now, you can see a massive improvement and we are creeping up the table, we are getting more points behind us.
“Before the Chelsea game, we’ve had a few games on the bounce recently which have gone in our favour and we’ve got the three points, so it’s just about maintaining that this weekend when we play Man Utd.
“I think just overall we needed to tweak a bit of everything, on the pitch, off the pitch. Since Lydia’s come in, we’ve done that. We’ve been working together more as a team, understanding the game a bit more and this is our first season in the WSL as a group and the girls are getting used to that now.
“I don’t think we’ll be able to relax until after the last game, to be honest. You just never know what’s going to happen with each game. We’ve got to continue showing that we can compete in this league. For me and the group of girls, there’s going to be no relaxing until the end of the season.”
Leicester’s good run – three consecutive wins in all competitions – was stopped in its tracks by a ruthless Chelsea side, who scored seven in the Vitality Women’s FA Cup Fifth Round clash at Kingsmeadow last weekend after the visitors were reduced to 10 players.
The 25-year-old says the team remain in high spirits and have since dusted themselves down from that disappointment in the capital. Valuable lessons were also learned which can serve them well in the remaining seven WSL fixtures, should similar scenarios arise.
“We just have to put it behind us,” the forward told the media. “We all spoke about it when we came back in on Monday and we’ve just regrouped from that. It’s onto the game at the weekend. A 7-0 loss is not the best result, but one thing we all did is fight for it together. We were all in it as a team from the first minute to the 90th minute.
“It was unlucky for Sophie [Howard] to end up getting the red card from the challenge, but one thing to learn as well is playing with 10 men against a difficult side like Chelsea and using a mid-zone block. One thing which was good from all of the girls is that we still went to try and get that first goal from the get-go.”
Scoring the second goal of a memorable Continental Tyres League Cup success at Leigh Sports Village earlier this term, as well as netting in the Vitality Women’s FA Cup Fifth Round triumph last May, Flint has fond memories of playing the Red Devils.
Analysing the Foxes’ next opponents, she is adamant that the group’s mindset will not change when coming up against her former team. Individually, Flint has started City's last two games, and returned to the scoresheet in their last league fixture.
“Man Utd are a good side,” she added. "They are fighting for the top three with Spurs. We’ve played Man Utd previously, just before Lydia came in and we beat them so I’m guessing this weekend is going to be even more of a difficult game for us.
“They are not going to want that again, especially on their home ground. It’s going to be a hard game for us but it’s the same as any other team. We’re just going to go there to try and get the three points.
“Now I’m back in the starting XI, it’s just about maintaining my confidence in playing and just playing well and just do what I can for the team.”
All times GMT.